


Quella volta una ragazza volpe mi insegnò italiano ma aveva anche poteri magica

by BlueTomoshibi



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action, Adventure, Amnesia, Exposition, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Government Conspiracy, Kemonomimi, Kitsunemimi, Magic, Magic and Science, Magic-Users, Original Fiction, Original Universe, Romance, Strangers to Lovers, Urban Fantasy, Worldbuilding, other world
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 75
Words: 235,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25898899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueTomoshibi/pseuds/BlueTomoshibi
Summary: "That time a fox girl taught me Italian but she also had magical powers"Shouri is a nineteen year old in a small sleepy town just living his life as quietly as possible. That would all change when a girl with no memories fell into his life. The amnesia wasn't the strange part, however. Bearing fox ears and matching tail, Blakki now only has Shouri to rely on while they try to figure out who and what Blakki is. Navigating this situation will be tricky, but more so when magic and Italian are involved.
Relationships: Original Female Character & Original Male Character, Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Italian Fox girl story as I call it for short. 
> 
> I do not speak Italian at all, I used a couple of resources for the translations, but if you have corrections or better wording, please don't hesitate to let me know!
> 
> This is something I've written and re-written for years and have finally decided to post it somewhere.

_“This isn’t fair…”  
“I haven’t done anything yet…”  
“I don’t want to die…”  
  
“Then don’t.”  
  
_Was it really that simple? Just don’t die? It was so difficult. Everything was stacked against them. There was no conceivable way they could come back from this. It just felt so easy to curl up and allow the embrace of darkness guide them off to an eternal slumber.  
  
No more pain  
  
No more suffering  
  
No more…. Anything.  
  
No. Giving up meant everything they went through was for nothing. They would give anything to get back up and try again. One more time. One more step. One more breath.  
  
\---  
  
“… …-’s …-ct 2572”  
“… … for real?!”  
“Yes … these creatures are a … phenomenon. They’re … dangerous.”  
“I can’t believe this _thing_ is real. No wonder Mr. Saitou wants rid of these monsters.”  
“Agreed. Personally, I feel they may provide some interesting research material.”  
“So you’re gonna slice this one open?”  
“Yes, we’ll need to gather the appropriate tools. I’ve just gotten approval to begin the dissection.”  
“This thing looks like it’s still breathing.”  
“No need to worry, that won’t be a problem for long.”  
  
Footsteps as the two participants of the prior conversation left the room. The “monster” in question opened her eyes slowly. White as far as she could see, and an open door. She sat up, processing what she had just heard. Looking around the room she noticed there wasn’t anyone else around. Lowering her head, she saw she was wearing a black jacket and white t-shirt. Poking out from behind her black pants was a fluffy black tail with a white tip.  
  
That didn’t seem weird to her; her mind was on the conversation she had woken up to. Whoever had been speaking previously was right next to her. They were so loud, which is part of the reason she had regained consciousness in the first place. It seemed she was different somehow? While she didn’t understand the exact words they were speaking the feelings behind them hit her like a sack of bricks.  
  
She coughed and raised her head, something was digging into her neck? She pawed at whatever was there; some kind of plastic, she could feel something hanging off of the plastic, what was that?  
  
Before she could investigate that oddity, she felt the ears at the top of her head twitch in response to a sound hitting them. Her gaze slowly met two people – ones with human ears, and lacked tails. They both appeared to be males, older, and wore expressions of shock. “Q-quickly move move!” The man wearing a white lab coat pushed the second man away. “Call security – 2572 is mobile!”  
  
Despite not understanding what the people had said, the tailed girl had a sinking feeling in her stomach. Something was screaming at her: you need to get out of here! Either way, she didn’t want to stick around and find out why they left in such a hurry. She threw her legs off of the examination table she had awoken on and rose to her feet.  
  
She rushed out of the room and looked around. Long white sterile hallways greeted her. No path for an escape. Her ears twitched again, there was a lot of sound coming from her right. She turned and ran to the left.  
  
Running down the halls, she turned wherever she couldn’t hear people from. With every twitch of her large triangular ears, their words began to get clearer and clearer to her.  
  
Suddenly:  
  
Alarms began to blare overhead. “ATTENTION! UNIT 2572 HAS ESCAPED! ALL PERSONNEL SHOOT TO KILL!” Boomed through the building’s PA system, causing the girl to wince and grab her ears from the volume of the announcement.  
  
It was just at that time that she had a good grasp on the language they were speaking. Her heart raced. They had referred to _her_ as 2572. They were planning on killing HER.  
  
“Cosa faccio? Cosa faccio?” She finally spoke in a small whimper. The girl was horrified. She didn’t know what was happening and these people were going to shoot her. Before she started to curl up and cry in fear, she saw blue. There wasn’t any physical blue, it was something purely in her mind. For some reason her body was just driven to move, despite not knowing what to do.  
  
Her feet beat against the tiled floor as she ran, avoiding voices and other footsteps wherever she heard them, but what she didn’t realize is they knew where she was at and had picked up on what she was doing.  
  
“2572 spotted!”  
  
Then that noise: BANG  
  
Twing!  
  
Something had been fired at her – they missed thankfully, but it was definitely something that would be lethal if she was hit by it.  
  
So the chase began.  
  
“I’m engaging 2572!” She heard her assailant shout. She ran as he chased her. “Get back here you fucking freak!” She heard him shout.  
  
BANG BANG!  
  
Another two shots, another two misses. But she saw the bullets embed into the wall she was running at. She trembled in fear as water began to build in her eyes. “Per favore!” She shouted.  
  
BANG BANG BANG!  
  
Three more shots hit the wall right as she turned the corner.  
  
“LASCIAMI VIVERE!” She screamed with all her might as the tears streamed down her face. Several more men rushed out from the direction she was running. The girl turned and ran down an adjoining hallway. “This thing can fucking run!” One of the men barked. “It wouldn’t be fun if we just put a bullet in its head. Try to hit its legs!”  
  
“PER FAVORE! LASCIATEMI IN PACE!” She screamed as loud as she could.  
  
BANG BANG BANG BANG  
  
TWING TWING  
  
More bullets were fired in her direction, ricocheting off of the surfaces they made impact with.  
  
CRACK!  
  
It was then she spotted it. Just ahead of her was a window – now cracked from several bullets smashing off of their transparent surface. Through the damaged panel she could see it – her freedom.  
  
Rather than slow down, the girl sped up, she held her arms in front of her and-  
  
SMASH!  
  
-right through the window she flew. Time slowed to a crawl as she realized only then what she had just done.  
  
Gravity took over as she plummeted towards the earth below.  
  
\---  
  
A pair of green eyes slowly opened. The sounds of a quietly babbling brook greeted them. The slightly fishy smell of the river before them. The owner of the green eyes sat against the tree they had fallen asleep against, just staring blankly at the river.  
  
This boy of a mere nineteen years just wanted an escape from life. Not a life-ending one mind you; he just needed to escape modern civilization and the intrusive thoughts plaguing their mind. It was easy to do in his town, just head five miles out of the city limits and you were in the middle of nowhere.  
  
Though the encroachment of modern humans meant that the signals of their cell-phones reached even out in the remote forests.  
  
vvvnt vvvnt vvvnt  
  
The sudden buzz of a smart phones motor snapped him out of his thoughts. Reaching into his black pants pocket, he pulled out the device in question.  
  
“Aura” was displayed as the caller.  
  
He blankly stared at the screen as the device vibrated desperately in his hand begging for him to answer the call. Finally, the device ceased its movement. Around thirty more seconds passed and the device gave two short buzzes to let him know there was now a voicemail.  
  
A couple of taps through the interface brought him to the voicemail box. Against his better judgement he pressed the play button.  
  
“Shouri I’m sorry for what I said please come home!”  
  
Before he could hear anything further, he dropped the call and pocketed the device. Young Shouri closed his eyes and rested his head against the tree behind him, looking up at the sun through the safety of the foliage above him. _  
  
thith-thith-thith  
  
_ A helicopter passed just overhead. That seemed odd to the young adult; Helicopters typically didn’t come out this far - there was quite literally nothing out in the dense woods he was spending his afternoon.  
  
“So much for peace and quiet.” He grumbled. Ruffling his brown hair made more of a mess of it than it already was. It was supposed to be styled, but he had really stopped caring. The birds nest he called his hair was in total contrast to the (relatively) nice clothes he decided to wear on his afternoon outing. This consisted of a slightly faded (but still in excellent condition) black fighter's jacket with a white collar made of faux fur. Typically, he would prefer this to be left open for breathability. The jacket itself was slightly loose on him even when zipped up.  
  
Deciding he had enough of nature for one day, he turned to head back the way he had came when a noise hit his ears.  
  
SPLASH  
  
Normally he would just attribute such a sound to a fish or maybe some trash flowing down stream, but he decided to take a look at the source of the noise. He was near a small drop in the river, so there was an unspoken agreement between himself and mother nature that some noise would occur.  
  
His eyes met an object slowly flowing downstream. A black lump of something. It looked like fabric almost? Did someone throw their clothes into the river? How awful.  
  
Curiosity got the better of him however, and Shouri found himself stepping towards the river, the rocks near the edge crunching under his brown shoes. It was a big bundle of cloth from what he could see. A few more steps forward.  
  
Skin  
  
SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH  
  
Shouri, disregarding getting his clothes soaked rushed into the river. A rush of emotions and adrenaline hit him like coals being thrown into a boiler. Dropping down into the water, he reached under the unmoving form and picked them up. He didn’t care how he was able to do this, he just had one thing in mind: getting this person out of the cold river.  
  
Adrenaline is a hell of a drug, Shouri learned that first hand, having managed to pull this person onto shore and setting them near the tree he had previously been resting under in basically one motion. But now it was time to pay the price for that work. The boy held himself up on his hands and knees, struggling to catch his breath. He was totally soaked, water dripping off his body onto the rocks below him. He looked up at his accomplishment. A small tinge of pride in what he had managed to do despite the less than stellar care he took of his body.  
  
Looking over the person’s form, most of their clothes were black, save for their white t-shirt. Based on the way their clothes stuck to their body, it was plain to see they were a girl; had to be around Shouri’s age too.  
  
There were many thoughts running through the young adult’s head. Did he just stumble across a murder? Could he leave? No, it was obvious someone moved this body to its’ new resting place. Upon closer inspection though, this mystery girl was still breathing, albeit shallowly. Shouri briefly considered attempting CPR, he had learned it in school. This would be a situation that would call for it. _  
_  
However _,_ he wouldn’t have to make a decision after all, as the girl in question began to cough violently. They suddenly sat up, continuing their coughing fit, as their body tried to desperately expel the water that had managed to get into their lungs. _  
  
_The young adult merely watched this girl attempt to catch her breath as she stared into her hands. Her blue eyes shone like sapphires despite barely registering her surroundings. This wasn’t what drew young Shouri’s attention. The enigmatic, black clad girl had additional features that drew his undivided attention; it wasn’t any feature a human possessed.  
  
Or a normal one at least.  
  
Fox ears. Black, fluffy fox ears, currently folded back poked out of her medium length black hair. And a tail; a big furry tail, black with a white tip to go with the ears  
  
It was at that moment, the unlikely pair’s eyes met for the first time. They both stared at one another for a moment, before the girl shrieked.  
  
“EIYAHH!” She scrambled to her feet, stumbling over herself before finally standing up straight, holding her hands in front of her body. She breathed hard, wide-eyed; tail puffed out in fright.  
  
“Ch-ch-chi sei tu?!” She demanded in a foreign tongue, pointing at him almost accusatorily.  
  
Shouri raised an eyebrow as he slowly rose to his feet. He knew only one language, and whatever this girl was speaking, it was definitely not what he was practiced in. “My name is Shouri. Who are you?” He spoke like an uneducated moron (or at least that’s how he felt asking this girl a question in English when she just shouted at him in some other language).  
  
Her ears twitched as his voice reached her ears. The girl’s breathing began to calm slightly.  
  
“I-” She gulped, eyes darting back and forth as she tried to figure out what to say. “I’m not sure I should tell you that…” She muttered, now speaking English just fine. Shouri looked her over again. The tail was moving of its own accord. Her ears were also twitching and moving just like a dog’s would when listening for noises. Something he had missed before was a collar around her neck. It looked tight and had a tag with some writing that he couldn’t read from the distance they were from each other.  
  
He stepped forward. The mysterious girl jumped in fright. “Why's that?” He asked whilst maintaining eye contact.  
  
“Well you know that’s because I’m-” The girl stepped backwards, to counter Shouri's advance.  
  
“I'm-?” Shouri gestured for her to continue, as he stepped forward once more.  
  
“I-I don’t want to say…” The fox-eared girl closed her eyes and shook her head as she continued her retreat.  
  
“Why?”  
"I just can't!"  
  
She whimpered, continuing her counter-steps to avoid Shouri’s forward momentum. Suddenly something solid hit her back, she looked back in fright to see a tree had stopped her. Turning her attention back to her pursuer, she was greeted with Shouri standing in front of her. Fearfully, the girl lowered herself to the ground. Her ears were folded back and her tail was between her legs as if she was expecting to get struck  
  
“Please don't hurt me.” The girl pleaded, holding her hands out, expecting the worst. She held her eyes shut tightly, not wanting to see what was about to happen. Rather than pain, a different sensation surprised the girl. She felt her ears get moved up, then hands running down the length of them. She quivered slightly. “A-ahh…. S-smetterla.… I’m sensitive…”  
  
Shouri raised an eyebrow. He was merely confirming his suspicion. The large, velvety soft ears in his hands were warm. His digits ran up and down the soft protrusions at the top of the girl’s head. She trembled with each stroke. It didn’t seem to be hurting her, he couldn’t place the expression she was making.  
  
“Those are part of you?” He asked. She looked up at him. “Mhm.” She nodded slowly. It seemed like the frightened girl was calming down as he played with her ears. Did she like this? Either way, they were pleasant to touch, and as long as she was calming down with this, he’d keep going.  
  
"What are you?" He decided to ask as he ran his fingernails across the base of her ears. She stared at him a bit blankly, getting lost in the feeling. She did acknowledge his question though: “I don't remember; they kept referring to me as a thing.” The girl quivered once more.  
  
That was a hell of a non-answer. His vision trained down at the collar she was wearing. Now that he was closer, he could read the text. Of course, it was a bunch of unreadable numbers and letters, the most prominent being “2572”.  
  
“Where did you come from?” Shouri asked, finally releasing the girl’s ears.  
  
She processed that question for a moment, deciding how best to answer. “I jumped.”  
  
The pair remained silent for a moment. “From where? And why?” Shouri asked.  
  
“They were going to kill me. So, I jumped out of the building.” Her vision trained towards the ground. She visibly trembled, wrapping her arms around herself as she recalled her escape.  
  
Shouri processed this information, remaining silent. He pieced together the fragments of this girl’s story and came to a realization of what exactly he had in his possession at the moment. This boy had to act decisively - they were both in danger. He grabbed her hand. She didn't have time to look up as she was pulled to her feet.  
  
“We need to get moving, it's not safe here.” He told her. She watched him look around, but mostly up towards the sky. His hand remained tightly wrapped around hers.  
  
There was a word he said that the young girl picked out in particular.  
  
“We?”  
“Yeah, we need to leave now.”  
  
She tilted her head. There was that word again; _“we”_ as in _“him and her”_.  
  
“Come on.” Shouri began to walk, trying to bring the girl with him. However, she stayed firmly in place and yanked her hand back. He turned to her. She held her hand that he had previously had attempted to take with him.  
  
“Uh-uh.” She shook her head, stepping away from the boy.  
  
“What?” Shouri turned his attention to the girl who was now refusing to budge. He raised an eyebrow “Why?”  
  
“I should be asking you that.” The girl stared at him cautiously. “Why do you have any interest in protecting me?” She bit her bottom lip, fighting to hold back her tears. “Why should I trust you? No, why should I trust anyone?!” She shouted, tears poured down her cheeks as she glared at Shouri, her tail swishing back and forth.  
  
The silence between them was sliced in two by a low whirring sound that was rapidly approaching their position. The pair of strangers looked up, then back to each other. Time was not on their side. Gritting his teeth Shouri just spoke, not really thinking about what he was saying.  
  
“We don't have time for this.” He stepped forward and grabbed her hand. “You can't trust me, but it's the only real option you have at the moment, now come on!” Once more he attempted to pull her along with him, this time she didn’t resist and followed him.  
  
Staying hidden under the canopy of the woods the two young adults ran hand-in-hand. The sounds of the whirring flying machines seemingly omni-present. “What are we going to do?!” The girl shouted as they ran.  
  
“I don't know, I've never had to run from a helicopter before!” Shouri snarked back.  
“I-I’m sorry!” She cried out between gasps for air.  
“That was SARCASM!”  
  
“MI DISPIACE!” The girl shouted another apology. The pair came to a stop to catch their breath, Shouri releasing the girl's hand. They listened closely for the noise they heard earlier. It sounded like there were additional machines in the air now to join the one that they initially heard.  
  
“Seriously? Who the fuck did you piss off?” He muttered under his breath. He turned his attention to the escapee he was now aiding. “Where did you come from again?” Shouri asked, he needed to clarify what exactly he was getting himself into (not that it really mattered at this point).  
  
She pondered that thought, trying to recall what even happened to her. “I dunno... I woke up in this white room, they must have thought I was asleep or something because they just left the door open. When I heard they weren't close by anymore, I got up and ran.” The girl explained.  
  
“And then?” The jump section of the story was missing, so Shouri knew there was more to this.  
  
“They found out I was trying to escape. The alarms started going off and the next thing I knew is they were chasing me.” The girl stopped speaking at this point, choked up from her own recollection of her escape. After a moment to calm herself, she finished her story. “I was so scared... They shot at me. I threw myself out the window but I didn’t realize how high up I was and fell into the river below.” The girl just stared down at the forest floor, sniffling.  
  
Shouri just stared at the girl. He didn’t have a reason to doubt what she had said. What she was, how he found her, her emotions, it was all genuine. For him it had been some time since he had felt a drive to do anything. This girl represented something he thought he had lost; the drive to do something outside of just maintaining himself. With that in mind he spoke. “Okay, I’ll keep you away from them - or at the very least, you won't die alone.” Shouri offered.  
  
“Sh-sho…” The girl looked up. Their eyes met. His gaze was unwavering. He meant every word. This boy came out of nowhere, pulled her out of a river and helped her evade her pursuers. That was probably twenty minutes ago. “B-but why?” She had to know. Even with what little she knew this was madness to her.  
  
“I ran away once…” She could hear him mutter that. Even with her fluffy fox ears giving her better than average hearing, what he spoke was barely a breath. What did he run away from?  
  
The girl’s thoughts were interrupted by him grabbing her hand again. He began to pull her along once again. “We need to keep moving. Shouldn’t stay in one spot too long.” She just followed along. Whatever happened to this boy must have been terrible. He was willing to throw his life away for a total stranger.  
  
They no longer ran, but made calculated movements through the underbrush, being sure to stay hidden from any aerial observers. The girl listened intently to the sounds of the machines that were scouting for them. It seemed they were sticking to one area. As they advanced through the woods the sound grew fainter, until the whirring of helicopter blades was replaced with less familiar urban noises.  
  
Soon they could see the makings of a city. It seemed they had escaped. Coming to a stop Shouri pondered what to do. “Well look at that, we survived somehow.” He let out a held breath. “Didn’t plan this far in advance.” The boy hummed in thought.  
  
His tagalong however was flabbergasted by this admittance. “Ma dai?! You didn't think we would lose them?!” He noted her ears and tail were sticking straight up. He smiled a bit at how her extra appendages showed her emotions as well.  
  
With a shrug he offered up the truth: “To be totally honest, no. I was ready for them to send people on foot. Guess they were just scouting for a body.” He stared at her. She knew that she was the body in question.  
  
“They’re not gonna find one.” She muttered quietly.  
  
“Exactly.” He nodded. There wasn’t a point in dwelling on that topic though, as there were more pressing matters to address. “Hmm… Best to lay low.” He folded his arms across his chest, humming as he tilted his head back and forth. “Eh fuck it.” Dropping his arms to his side, he turned to the escapee in question. “You’re coming to my place. My sister totally won’t be cool with this, but I’m not leaving you out in the cold.” He told her.  
  
The girl’s ears wilted; her tail drooping low as she looked away. “You don’t have to do all that, not for me.” She shook her head slowly, refusing to look Shouri in the eyes. She wasn’t worth this effort, or at least that’s how she felt.  
  
Despite her protests, Shouri was thinking of how to engineer this. The fox ears and tail would be a dead giveaway, especially if the people after her were some kind of government organization. She had a jacket, and so did he. Maybe they could wing this with some careful planning. “Okay, take off your jacket.” He told her, while removing his own.  
  
The girl did as she was instructed. Taking that from her, he wrapped it around her waist, tying it off. This hid her tail just barely. The boy slightly cursed that he didn’t wear a hoodie. A hat was in this girl’s future for sure. “Just use this to cover your ears.” He decided on.  
  
She was good at following directions it seemed. The girl was now slightly hidden from immediate suspicion, though careful observation from the general public would make them stand out immediately. “This is a shit disguise.” Shouri nodded, acknowledging the shoddy job this did, but it’d have to do for now. “Good enough, let’s go into town.” The girl gulped as she was pulled out of the safety of the woods. There weren’t many people around, thanks due in part to it being a weekday. The fox girl immediately noticed the route they were taking was strange. She didn’t see many other people on the streets and alleyways they were traversing. He definitely must live here, as it seemed he knew where to go to avoid the public eye.  
  
Walking a bit further, they reached a small park in the center of town. The pair crouched near some bushes, so again they weren’t immediately visible. Shouri pulled out his cell phone and flipped through his contacts. Finally pressing dial, he brought the device up to his ear. “Aura?” The boy asked. The fox-girl only heard yelling, screaming, and a bit of sobbing from the other end.  
  
“Yes, yes. I'll come home. I'm at the edge of the forest. I'll be there. Yes. Love you too, bye.”  
  
Ending the call, he looked to his new companion, who already understood the situation. “You won't be at the edge of the forest.” The girl said simply.  
  
“Smart girl. I get my sister out of the apartment; we can go in at our leisure.” Shouri explained. He motioned for the girl to duck down. The pair watched the street carefully. Several cars passed by. One stuck out in particular. It was going probably twice the speed limit for the neighborhood. Once that car passed, they stood up. “Okay, see that silver car that just passed?” He asked, walking around the bushes they had been hiding behind.  
  
“Yeah?”  
“That was my sister. We have about thirty minutes. fifteen to get there, five to wait around and look for me, and ten for her to freak out and speed home.”  
  
That was oddly specific and calculated. “You've done this before.” The girl stared at Shouri.  
  
“She needs to leave me be sometimes, we’re not kids anymore.” The boy grumbled. Despite the apparent irritation, the girl could sense some pain to that comment.  
  
The brunet haired boy waved his follower forward. “Come on, lets get going.”  
  
The two walked another two minutes up the street to a small apartment complex. It wasn’t the best complex in the city, and in all honesty, it was a bit rundown. That being said, it also wasn’t the worst place in town. In addition, most people that lived here had day jobs, so the complex in question was relatively devoid of life during the weekdays, perfect given their current situation.  
  
They walked up a flight of stairs to unit# 471. Shouri drew his key from his pocket and unlocked the door, opening it and motioning for the girl to walk in. She just stared at him for a moment before accepting his invitation. She looked around the apartment, removing the jacket that covered her head and allowing it to fall onto her shoulders. With this her ears were afforded their freedom and they immediately stood straight up. Her tail swished behind her in curiosity as she walked over to the dining room table and took in her new surroundings.  
  
There were a mess of papers, envelopes, books. One of them had a name on it. Aureolin Tomoshibi. “Aureolin.” The girl read off. She saw a photo sitting on a shelf nearby. She picked it up and looked at it. It was a picture of a girl with long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, she was holding a diploma and was in a gown with a strange looking cap.  
  
“That's my sister, Aura for short.” Shouri commented.  
  
The girl turned to look at him, he was sorting through a few envelopes he found on the table. She looked back down at the photo again. “Nothing for me, just more bills.” Shouri threw the pile onto the table. “Come on, I'll show you my room”  
  
After everything they had been through, a place to relax sounded wonderful at this point in time. She followed her host into his bedroom, not really caring (or realizing) any subtext that could have been implied to that kind of invitation.  
  
Given how small the rest of the apartment was, there wasn't much to the bedroom, a bed, dresser and computer desk. They even seemed to even have the luxury of an in-unit walk-in closet. It looked like the computer desk was where Shouri spent most of his time. Papers, books and envelopes, like the dining room table. The girl heard a click from behind her. “I locked the door. We're safe for now.”  
  
“That's a relief.” The girl smiled, looking down at her hands. She then realized she was still wearing Shouri's jacket. “Oh! Sorry!” The girl quickly removed the jacket and handed it back to the boy. He merely put his jacket back on. As she untied her jacket from her waist and put her own jacket back on.  
  
“Well, er-” He paused with his mouth hanging open. There was a vital piece of information he had yet to capture. “I never did get your name, what is your name?” Shouri asked.  
  
She frowned. “I don’t really remember much about myself.” She fidgeted nervously. “In fact, I don’t remember anything except waking up in that building.” Her blue eyes stared at the ground as if they would have the answer written there.  
  
“Except-” She looked up. “-I remember my name. I remember that as clear as day.” She drew in a deep breath and then exhaled, smiling before she spoke. “My name is Blakki, I guess I’m in your care!” 


	2. Chapter 2

It was dark. What even happened?  
  
 _“My name is Shouri. Who are you?”  
“We need to get moving, it's not safe here.”  
“You can't trust me, but it's the only real option you have at the moment, now come on!”  
“I won't let them get you. Or, at the very least, you won't die alone.”  
  
_Blakki stared up from where she was laying. That’s right. She was safely hidden in Shouri’s closet. It would help keep her out of immediate sight. She was still afraid of being discovered herself, so she didn’t mind this arrangement. Some spare bedding and the clothes hanging above made up her new living quarters. At least she wouldn’t be shot at if she got up and left the confines of this enclosure.  
  
The girl propped herself up, she brought her tail in front of her and hugged it. The day was such a blur for her, despite only having less than twenty-four hours’ worth of memories. She remembered after Shouri's sister got home, there was a considerable amount of yelling. It was a wonder the cops hadn’t been called for a domestic disturbance.  
  
Blakki had hidden herself in the closet, fearful of being discovered. The yelling was capped off with Shouri slamming the door to his room shut and locking it. After that, she remembered poking her head out of the closet and going to Shouri.  
  
He had explained to her that he lives with his older sister who is currently in college. Their parents weren’t in the picture, but their grandparents apparently owned the apartment complex so they got to live here rent free.  
  
It was evident that Shouri and Aura got into fights often based on the way he spoke of his sister. Shouri's side of the story made it seem like Aura was a terrible sister and roommate. Blakki could tell from the content of the prior yelling that Aura was just concerned for him.  
  
In all honesty, it made Blakki feel really bad, having gotten him mixed up with... her. Given how the people in the building she escaped from treated her like some kind of freak. It was depressing. To top it off, on their jaunt through town earlier no one she saw was like her. They were all normal humans and she was this… fox thing. Even given all that, she saw the smile on Shouri's face when he spoke to her. It seemed as if he genuinely enjoyed her company, which brought her a small bit of joy. She felt like she was wanted and not just a _monster_ to be disposed of.  
  
Through the slits in the closet door she could tell it was still night, though a bright light was coming from the window just outside of said room. Parting the door to the side, she crawled out into Shouri’s bedroom proper. The owner of the room was burning the midnight oil, still on his computer where Blakki had left him when she went to nap.  
  
“Bathroom?” He asked, keeping his focus firmly on his computer monitor.  
  
“Mm-mmmm…” She shook her head and got to her feet. The black-haired girl walked over to the window. The light that was coming through the windows drew her towards it, like a moth to candlelight.  
  
“La luna…” She breathed out.  
  
“Hm?” Looking over at Blakki, he noticed she was trying to look through the blinds at something. He pulled up the blinds for her. The girl leaned forward, nearly pressing her face on the glass in front of her.  
  
“La luna è così bella stasera...” The fox-girl’s eyes grew wistful as she stared up at the moon. Her eyes seemed to sparkle in the moonlight that illuminated her form.  
  
Rather than being awestruck at the moonlit beauty he had all to himself, Shouri was busy trying to figure out what she just said. When they first met, she had spoken some foreign language but quickly began speaking English. Thanks to the wonders of the internet he could quickly type in what she had just said to try and get a translation. He misspelled some of the words it seemed, but the search engine not only corrected his misspellings but gave him a translation of what she said, including the language.  
  
“The moon is so beautiful tonight?” He asked.  
  
Blakki looked over with an eyebrow raised. “Yeah, that’s what I said.” She replied, wondering why he was repeating her.   
  
“You said it in Italian.” He frowned, turning his chair towards her.  
  
“Eh-tal-e-n?” The poor girl tilted her head back and forth. She was confused.  
  
The young male raised an eyebrow. “It’s another language. You said something else when we first met, but I don’t know what you said.” He told her.  
  
“Weird. I’ve just been speaking normally the whole time.” She frowned, folding her arms across her chest. He noted her ears were folded back and her tail was swishing back and forth at a moderate pace. Still though, she didn’t seem to realize she was switching languages. Did that have something to do with her missing memories?  
  
With a yawn, Shouri made a decision to shelf that quandary for now. “I’m going to hit the hay. Try not to stay up too late.” He told her.  
  
“Okay Sho.” She smiled, turning back to the window.  
  
As he laid down, Blakki stole a glance towards her savior.  
  
“Sho?”  
“Yeah?  
“Thank you for helping me.”  
  
He digested those words for a moment, trying to think of a retort to that. Anything he wanted to say was too painful for him, so he just opted to turn his back to Blakki and throw his blanket over his body.  
  
“Buona notte, Shouri.”  
  
\---  
  
The following morning  
  
Blakki laid in the closet once again. She groggily observed her surroundings. Some hours had passed since her moon-gazing. A menagerie of shirts hung neatly above her. There was probably more to the closet to discover, however the young fox-girl was too out of it to try and allow her curiosity to run amok.  
  
She sat up. It was definitely morning now. That made her sad. And tired. Before she knew it, the sun was in her eyes, this lasted only a moment as Shouri stood in the entranceway of the closet. “I knew I heard you shuffling around in here.”  
  
“Buongiorno Sho.” Blakki smiled. A silver packet was tossed into her lap. “What’s this?” She looked over the shiny packaging that she had been given.  
  
“It’s a toaster pastry. I figured you might be hungry.” The boy said simply as he lowered himself to the ground. “How are you doing?” He asked.  
  
“Bene!” The girl smiled, her tail wagging back and forth behind her excitedly. Shouri nodded. At least he had figured out her random slips into Italian was a normal language. Even if he didn’t speak it. He couldn’t help but crack a smile as he watched the girl happily chew on the sweet breakfast treat.  
  
Satisfied that Blakki was fed, Shouri stood up and walked over to his computer. He turned it on and waited for it to load up. Blakki had finished the first of the two pastries that she had been given, but decided to move to the bed. Sitting down on it, she set the silver packaging she held down next to her and felt the bed. It was plush and felt nice under her fingers.  
  
She laid back on the bed. “Comfy.” She purred with her legs still hanging off the bed. The girl laid her arms out, closing her eyes for a moment. Her tail began to protest the awkward angle it was at. She spun herself to lay on the bed properly. She yawned. “I just woke up, but I’m so...” Blakki fought to keep her eyes open, but ultimately failed and fell back asleep.  
  
While Blakki caught up on her sleep, Shouri was wide awake. He was on the internet, mostly checking any kind of news website he could. He was looking for any articles that were describing the creature he had rescued, labeling her as some kind of dangerous creature or otherwise.  
  
To his relief (and maybe a little fear) there was nothing to be found. A little new tech news, the latest political scandal, and random celebrity gossip was all that he found. Nothing about a secret military fox-girl released into the wild. He looked over and saw the girl in question was fast asleep. “What do I do now?” Shouri looked down, now lost in thought.  
  
Blakki heard the sound plastic capped keyboard keys being rapidly tapped. She slowly opened her eyes; she saw a white ceiling above her. The fox-girl shot up, looking around quickly with her ears pointed straight up in alarm. She calmed down slightly when she realized she was safe. “You're awake.” Shouri stated plainly, keeping his eyes trained on his computer screen.  
  
“Y-yeah. The bed was really comfy. I just kinda passed out.” Blakki smiled nervously, blushing a bit in embarrassment.  
  
The boy simply nodded, not turning to his new roommate. “Good, you need to rest after what you went through yesterday. You can keep sleeping if you want.” Despite directing this towards Blakki he still remained focused on the computer screen.  
  
She frowned slightly in being ignored. Truth be told, she was a bit groggy still. “I'll just lay here for a while. I don't really want to just sleep all day.” Blakki replied, falling over onto her side and watching Shouri.  
  
“Suit yourself.” Came the reply.

The girl zoned out as she watched Shouri type away on his computer. As she slowly moved her head to get into a more comfortable position, she felt something around her neck. Well that wasn’t right, it was more of she became conscious of it being there. With a bit of force, the collar popped off her neck. The tag had a mess of undecipherable letters and numbers, and a lovely bar code under which were the numbers “2572”  
  
It made her ill just looking at it. She was literally just a number to them. Whoever “they” were. She pocketed the collar; she’d probably dispose of it later. With that bit of fun out of the way, she resumed lying about, doing nothing. This quickly grew boring however. “Sho?” Blakki sat up again.  
  
“Hm?” He remained focused on his computer.  
  
“I’m bored.” She complained. Without a second thought, Shouri reached into his pocket and pulled out his smart phone, tossing the device to his guest. “Go nuts.” He told her. She looked over the device. It wasn’t apparently obvious what it was for. She remembered he had used it to call his sister before. On the side there seemed to be a button. Pressing the button illuminated the screen. A clock showed up for a moment. Out of sheer coincidence, Blakki touched the screen causing the device to dismiss the clock and bring up a page of icons.  
  
The one labeled “internet” stuck out to her. Tapping the icon brought up a web browser start page. This particular browser was one of the ones that had news articles on the front page. Of which Blakki immediately became lost in the sea of click bait articles.  
  
Hours passed with the duo sitting in relative silence.  
  
Blakki’s ears twitched. “Sho, your sister is home.” She told him quietly. With an annoyed grunt, Shouri stretched out. “I suppose I should go greet her, lest she bust down the door looking for me.” The boy stood up much to the protest of his sedentary muscles. “Okay, come back soon.” Blakki smiled, returning to her web browsing. She missed the slight smile he returned to her before leaving the room.  
  
Strolling out of the room, the male of the house found his sister collapsed on the worn leather couch. “Rough day?”  
  
“You don’t even… you just don’t even…” The woman groaned. She looked toward her brother. Her blonde hair was already halfway out of its bun, and it was obvious to see that there was some wear on the make-up that had been so delicately applied this morning. “What are we doing for dinner tonight?” She asked, wondering what food she would get to consume before she went to pass out for the night.  
  
“Ehh, I’ll throw one of those frozen Salisbury steak meals in the oven.” The boy shrugged, walking over to their dining room table. He picked up the mail and shuffled through it. “That sounds fine to me, I think we have one of those tubs of mashed potatoes in the fridge too. I’m pretty sure it’s still good.” Aura replied, peeling herself off the couch.  
  
“Gonna wash up.” The exhausted woman groaned, rising to her feet.  
  
“’kay.” Shouri took care of the meal prep, which consisted of pre-heating the oven and throwing the frozen meal on a baking sheet.  
  
“She sounded tired.” Blakki commented as soon as Shouri returned to the room. She kept her eyes glued to the phone, a habit Shouri was afraid she would pick up, and was powerless to stop it. “Oh? You could hear that?” He asked the more pressing question.  
  
“Si! Normally if I’m sitting around I don’t hear much, but if I focus I can hear stuff further away.” She told him. “If I really focus I can hear super quiet sounds like the fan in your computer box.” The fox-girl added, not once tearing her eyes away from what she was looking at on the phone. Shouri narrowed his own eyes and walked over. He pulled the phone out of the young girl’s hands. “H-hey!” She protested that immediately.  
  
“You need to take a break.” He scolded her. “Why?” She pouted at him. “You get really nasty headaches if you don’t take a break every so often. Also I’m pretty sure you weren’t blinking”  
  
“But you don’t!” She countered.  
“I close my eyes and just listen to something for a bit.” He replied.  
“But I’m bored noooooow.” Blakki flopped over face down on the mattress.  
“Just relax for a bit. It’ll be there when you get back to it.”  
“Mehhhh…” She pouted into the blankets under her.  
  
Shouri couldn’t help but crack another smile, at least she was starting to acclimate to her new surroundings quickly. His smile quickly faded though, as he still didn’t really know what exactly he was dealing with. By all accounts, Blakki seemed like a normal girl, just with fox ears and a tail.  
  
\---  
  
Later that night, well after dinner had been consumed, Blakki was drifting in and out of consciousness, when suddenly she sat up. Her ears and tail were pointed straight up. What was this feeling? A crushing pressure. A fear. But a whirlpool that drew her in. Either way this feeling was in no way pleasant. “Sh-sho…” The fox girl called for her host. “I feel funny...” Blakki whimpered.  
  
“Define funny.” Shouri muttered, keeping his eyes on his monitor.  
  
“Sho... There's something wrong. There's something really wrong. I'm scared. Sho...” Blakki stared at the boy pleadingly, her ears flattened and her tail between her legs.  
  
His gaze slowly shifted over towards the other young adult and was met with an uncomfortable, pleading expression. “What’s wrong?” He asked, a bit more concern to his tone.  
  
The girl trembled. She wasn’t sure how exactly to describe what she was feeling. Whatever was causing this strange sensation was drawing her towards it. “There... is something outside Sho.”  
  
Shouri looked at the girl and then made his way over to the window. The moon was already fairly high in the sky, illuminating the surrounding landscape for the boy to observe. Not a soul was in sight. “I don't see anything.” He noted.  
  
Blakki fidgeted uncomfortably next to the boy. She was visibly shuddering. “I would rather not go out there and explore.” She admitted. Bringing her tail in front of her, she hugged it tightly. “But I want this feeling to go away.” The fox-girl closed her eyes, wanting this to stop.  
  
With a sigh, Shouri picked up his phone from its resting place on his desk. “Let’s get check it out then.”  
  
\-----  
  
Crickets chirped as the duo walked the empty streets of the apartment complex. The usually decently illuminated area was pitch black. Even the street lights that bordered the block were out. “This is creepy. I think we might be on to something here.” Shouri noted, pointing to the street lamps. They were struggling in vain to light up, but it was as if something was drawing the current. One could only make out a very dim spark from the filament.  
  
This was too creepy for Blakki to handle. She grabbed Shouri’s arm and tried to pull him back towards the apartment. “Let's go home Sho! I don't want to be out here anymore!”  
  
“Agreed. Let's-” Before they could turn to leave, Shouri caught a glow of a whitish-blue figure. A sweat permeated his body. He gulped hard as his breathing slowed to a drawn-out crawl. “I think your feeling just found us.” He whispered.  
  
A quadrupedal creature walked up to them. It glowed slightly, revealing its features. It was yellow with black spots. It had noticeable fangs and a long cat-like tail. It was obviously a large cat, probably a leopard of some kind. But it was no normal leopard. Electricity arced up and down its body. “What the hell is that?” Shouri asked, as they continued to back up.  
  
“L-l-l-lightning?” Blakki whimpered, trembling fearfully, eyes wide.  
  
This completely defied Shouri’s wildest expectations. He had expected to find nothing out here; maybe another fox-girl like Blakki at worst. He wasn’t prepared for this; his mind went totally blank. In hindsight he should have brought a bat or something to defend them. The creature lowered its form, the electricity on its body sparking and crackling as it prepared to pounce its prey. “We need to run.” Shouri grabbed Blakki's arm and pulled her away. The two ran down the streets, the strange lightning creature following.  
  
What happened? Why was the ground so close to his face now? It came back to him, electricity, it suddenly coursed through the two young adults. That creature had done it. Blakki was a few feet away from him. The force of the shock, combined with their momentum they had at the time caused them to get split apart. “Blakki...” Shouri reached out for the girl - she laid there, unmoving. The creature walked up to the unmoving girl, leaving small sparks of electricity that acted almost like footprints. It raised an electrified paw, sparks coating the normally razor-sharp claws this predator possessed.  
  
Shouri felt a sudden rush of adrenaline, he threw himself forward scooping up Blakki and very narrowly avoiding an electrified swipe, which struck the ground a few inches away. The boy felt his hair stand on end as the electricity from the attack faded away. The mere human could do nothing but hold the unconscious fox-girl tightly as he laid on the ground. There was absolutely nothing he could do. He was powerless, his body was protesting any further movement. “Blakki...” He held his eyes closed shut as the creature approached to continue tormenting its prey.  
  
“Ally - Tempesta di Sabbia, Forte!” A confident female voice pierced the quiet night. A wave of what appeared to be dirt overtook the electric creature, sweeping it away from its prey.  
  
What ran into Shouri’s vision made eyes widen despite how drained he was. It was a girl. She had soft, light brown hair, which was kept in a neat bun. She wore a light brown jacket, made of wool, which only had a single button buttoned. She wore a tan shirt under that, and a tan skirt, which went down to her knees and black stockings under that. The girl’s blue eyes met Shouri’s eyes. Her mouth dropped a bit. She looked back. “Faith they’re hurt!” She shouted.  
  
It wasn’t her eyes, concern, or even her clothing that drew Shouri’s attention. No, it was the two large, brown rabbit ears that sat on her head and the soft rabbit tail poking out from behind her.  
  
“What the hell, a maestro? No wonder the scherzando came this way.” Another woman came into view. She was wearing a black tank top with blue jeans. She had straight black hair which came down to the middle of her back. A jacket was wrapped around her waist, probably having been moved there when it got too warm.  
  
The woman referred to as “Faith” shook her head and refocused her attention forward. “Never mind them, we need to dispatch with this Scherzando first.” She spoke to her rabbit girl. Shouri watched this woman lift up a strange almost smart-phone like device with a clear body. “Foglie a Lame, Fortissimo!” She spoke out like she was reading an incantation. She was determined, laser focused on the target at hand. Nothing seemed to faze this woman.  
  
Shouri’s gaze slowly drifted towards the rabbit-girl who stood among a flurry of leaves that circled around her. The creature they called a scherzando bared its fangs and transitioned to a motion that resembled a roar only with no sound to accompany it. What seemed to be a column of electricity was shot at Ally.  
  
“Respingere, mosso!” Faith spoke another incantation almost as if she was reacting to the situation. A shield of energy formed in front of Ally for the instant of the electrical attack. Then came Faith’s counter attack, a flurry of bladed leaves fired from their orbit around the rabbit-girl. It was like a storm of small green knives that swarmed like a hive of bees, penetrating and slicing the strange beast.  
  
And just as quickly as it had all started, it ended. The creature swayed slightly before collapsing to the ground. As if a bad dream, it simply faded away like it was never even there. With their work complete, Faith went to leave. “Let's go Ally.” She called to her partner. The much kinder rabbit-girl looked to the victims of the scherzando however.  
  
“B-but Faith...” Ally looked back at Shouri, who was still holding Blakki tightly. She stared at them with concern in her eyes.  
  
The woman turned to her insubordinate rabbit-girl. “But what?” Faith received the most pathetic pouty face from the brown clad girl. “No, we're not doing this.” She spat in response to the pouting.  
  
Her lips trembled as she tried her best puppy-dog face. “Please Faith.” Ally begged.  
  
“Althea… you’re a pain, you know that?” Faith grumbled, stealing a glance towards the still unmoving Shouri and Blakki. She looked down at the device in her hand, seemingly scrolling through a touchscreen interface. “La Bella Vita, Presto tutti.” Faith finally spoke  
  
“Yay!” The rabbit-girl clapped and faced Shouri and Blakki. She held out her open hands and a soothing wave washed over the two. “Thank you, Faith.” Ally smiled, walking back to Faith’s side.  
  
“Let's get before they start asking me a million questions. Sahji can fucking deal with that.” Faith sneered, looking back at Shouri and Blakki. The streetlamps flickered back into life at this point, the previous draw on the electrical system fully dissipated  
  
“...damn it...” Shouri muttered as he felt his strength returning to him.


	3. Chapter 3

TAP TAP TAP TAP  
  
Scared little feet pounded against the ground, running as fast as they could, but no progress was to be made in the surrounding darkness. The vulpine featured girl ran at full speed, eyes closed tightly as tears streamed behind her. Her eyes only opened wide when she was struck by a large bolt of lightning.  
  
Gravity took over as the girl was thrown from her feet to the ground. Rolling a distance, she eventually rested on the cold darkness underneath her. Face-down, she slowly lifted her head to see the brown-haired savior she cherished so dearly laying not too far away. Trying to reach out was impossible. He didn’t move, all she could do was scream into the unsympathetic darkness.  
  
A warmth overtook her hand. Jarringly, she was suddenly on her back, in the closet, with Shouri sitting next to her. She looked over slowly, re-processing who and where she was.  
  
Shouri stared at her, brows turned up with concern. “Are you okay Blakki?” He asked. Blakki felt his grip around her hand tighten.  
  
Slowly, the girl nodded. Her lips turned up into a warm smile. “Yeah Sho, I'm fine.” Bits and pieces of the night prior returned to the girl’s memories. A tinge of shame washed over her body. “You saved me from that leopard thing” She furrowed her brows as she tried to recall more. “And you had to carry me home. I remember now.” She sat up. Shouri released her hand and scooted back to give her a little more room.  
  
Her gaze fell. She didn’t do anything but get scared and freeze up. “I'm useless Sho. I could have... I'm just worth-mmth?!” Before she could finish that thought however, Shouri clamped his hand over her mouth. It seemed he had a different opinion of the prior night’s events.  
  
“No, it was my fault. I could have brought a weapon for us, or distracted it or something, anything. I let you get hurt; I'm sorry Blakki.” Shouri lamented. He dropped his hand from Blakki's mouth.  
  
The girl stared at her lap. She wanted to argue with him. She wanted to tell him he was wrong. But she simply didn’t have the courage to do it. She felt useless. In the same respect though, she was touched he protected her so thoroughly. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the boy, hugging him tightly. “Thank you for protecting me again.” Blakki smiled, squeezing him tightly. Her head was tilted down and pressed up against his chest, so she couldn’t see the shade of red that Shouri’s face had gained from this gesture.  
  
“It’s n-nothing, really.” Shouri managed to get out. The fox-girl released her two-time savior, adverting her gaze in embarrassment of what she had just done. Rising to his feet, Shouri quickly turned away from Blakki to avoid showing her his face. “I'll be right back with breakfast.”  
  
After he had left the bedroom proper, he pressed his back against the door, trying to quell the rapid beating of his head. “Calm down stupid…” He muttered under his breath.  
  
Back in the closet of dreams, Blakki sat alone, reflecting on her previous actions. She covered her face. “Why the heck did I do that?” She beat her fists against her own head in a ritual of self- admonishment. “Idiota! I could have just told him thank you!” The girl continued to reprimand herself up for her rash actions.  
  
After the pair of young adults quelled the raging emotions they were both experiencing, Shouri made his grand return to the walk-in closet. No words were exchanged as the pair ate their microwave breakfast in silence.  
  
Breaking the silence, Blakki spoke up.  
  
“So what are we going to do Sho?”  
“We need information.”  
  
He lowered his head for a moment, frowning hard as he thought over his own suggestion. “But… I have no idea where to start.” He muttered. Blakki too lowered her head, staring at her breakfast as if it had all the answers. “The weird leopard thing shot lightning at us.” She commented. “But-” She raised her head. “That didn’t feel strange to me.” She added. “Is that strange?” The vixen asked.  
  
“I’ve never heard of a lightning leopard before.” Shouri retorted. “There was one more thing.” He paused to think this through. His memories of the night prior weren’t the best given the state the electric cat had put them through. “Someone else was there.” He said.  
  
Blakki nodded. “I felt like there was someone else there that saved us, but I don’t really remember much.” Her voice tapered off as she spoke, disappointed she couldn’t have been more useful to Shouri.  
  
“There was another girl like you.”  
“There was?!”  
  
Shouri was taken aback by the sheer relief he saw on Blakki’s face upon this revelation. “Yeah.” He nodded, which elicited a small smile from the fox-eared girl. “She had rabbit ears and a tail. There was a woman too. She said some stuff in Italian and then I think the rabbit girl shot leaves at it.” Shouri explained.  
  
“Leaves?”  
“I was barely conscious, but I distinctly remember leaves.”  
  
The pair went silent, both ruminating on the limited information they had at the moment. “I think we need to go out Sho.” Blakki spoke up. “Absolutely not.” Shouri replied sternly.  
  
Naturally she was shocked by the quick decision. “Eh?! Perchè no?!” Blakki yelped, slipping back into Italian. Shouri narrowed his gaze which instantly put Blakki on edge. He raised his hand and she closed her eyes in fright, expecting some kind of repercussion for her suggestion.  
  
Suddenly she felt a pair of hands wrap around her ears. “Ah! Ahhh…” She quivered opening her eyes weakly. “S-sensitive…” The girl whimpered weakly. The feeling was strange, but she didn’t hate it.  
  
“We can't leave because of these.” Shouri stated the simple fact of the situation. He stroked her ears, and scratched the base of them, as he had done previously  
  
“W-we coullld h-hide themmm...” She was practically melting in his hands, but she didn’t want to give up on her idea.  
  
Shouri released the girl's ears, he then grabbed her tail. “Eiiyaah!” The girl jumped, staring down at Shouri's hands, tearing up a bit. This was a different, just as intense feeling; but again, she still didn’t hate this feeling of his grasp around her.  
  
“What about this?” He questioned as he gently stroked the base of her tail with his thumb  
  
“I could take off my jacket and wrap it around my waist like last time...” Blakki offered, her eyes staring pleadingly at Shouri's hands.  
  
After a moment of pondering the girl’s suggestion, he released her and stood up. “I suppose you’re right. I have a nasty feeling there’s more to this whole situation than girls with animal ears.” He said after a moment’s reflection. “Veramente?!” Blakki's face lit up with excitement at the prospect of going out, her previous apprehension melting away.  
  
“We just gotta avoid attracting too much attention.” He warned. She nodded enthusiastically unable to hide the smile on her face.  
  
The boy sighed; the situation was annoying, but so was being attacked by electric wildlife. “You're lucky my sister has classes and then work straight after.” He grumbled. Though his expression lightened and a small smile crept onto his face. “It can't be helped I suppose.” He added, looking over at the fox-girl, who was excitedly wagging her tail at the prospect of leaving the apartment.  
  
\---  
  
“How do I look?” Blakki asked, now sporting her "new" look. Her black jacket was tied around her waist, and it did a pretty alright job at hiding her tail. As for her ears, after some digging around the apartment, they located an old Gatsby hat that Aura used to wear a long time ago. With a bit of effort, Blakki was able to tuck her ears under it. A bit of fluffing of her hair where human ears should have been completed the illusion of a “normal” college age girl.  
  
“Average? Not a fox-girl?” Shouri offered. She looked like any neighborhood girl, which was the goal. Not overly flashy, just plain and normal. Blakki clapped her hands together and smiled.  
  
“Bene! That's what I was hoping for!” The girl did a small jump for joy. Shouri noted that all of their disguise-work stayed in place. A good sign of how well this would actually work in practice. They put on their shoes and stood at the front door.  
  
“Alright, let's go.”  
  
\---  
  
The pair ventured out into the urban wilderness. As they walked around, they were careful to not act too suspiciously to avoid anyone getting a good look at them (mostly Blakki). They came to a stop on a street corner downtown. “Where should we even go?” Shouri pondered aloud.  
  
“Non so.” Blakki frowned. They had next to no information to go off of, much less an actual direction. As it stood, they were just blindly wandering around town. “Do you think anyone else saw it?” She wondered.  
  
Shouri stroked his chin in thought. “Hmmm…” He hummed. “Like, a bunch of people should have seen it. A large cat made a lightning show in the middle of the parking lot.” He theorized. The boy looked to Blakki who stared back blankly. “Wait! I got it! Come on Blakki!” He grabbed the girl’s hand and pulled her down the street. “Wah! Wait Sho!” She yelped, holding her hat in place as she was dragged along.  
  
Thankfully the destination Shouri had in mind wasn’t too far away from where they had been standing. It was a local police station. “A Police station?” Blakki raised an eyebrow. “Hear me out: If a bunch of people saw a big cat, they would have had to reported it right?” He proposed. Blakki nodded in agreement. “Oh, you’re right! Good idea Sho!”  
  
And so the two entered the local precinct. Given it was the downtown police station it was quite large, the stone tiling on the floor polished to a shine and the facilities kept generally free of dirt and debris. Given it was mid-morning on a weekday, there were a couple of citizens wandering about, but not too many.  
  
Shouri led Blakki to the information desk.  
  
“How can I help you?” The front desk attendant asked. Actually confronting the attendant presented a new challenge to young Shouri: how would he articulate what he wanted to say without sounding crazy? “Uhm, were there any reports of any big cats loose in the neighborhood last night? My friend and I thought we saw one.” He asked quietly.  
  
The attendant raised an eyebrow. Regardless she showed some level of professionalism and made a query into her system. “No such reports have been raised in the last month.”  
  
“Aspetta!” Blakki shouted, stepping forward and placing her hands on the counter. “Nobody saw it?” She probed. The attendant frowned. “Hold on.” The woman turned back to her computer monitor and typed in several more search queries. “Where did you spot this large cat?” She asked after a moment.  
  
“In the Novo Heights Apartment complex.” Shouri replied.  
“One moment.” The attendant returned to her search.  
  
Shouri and Blakki looked to each other for a moment, a bit uneasy. “I have no reports of any big game near that location in over a year.” The woman finally said after a moment.  
  
“Maybe it had something to do with the power being out.” Shouri mused aloud.  
  
“If it’s an issue with your electricity, might I suggest speaking with your power company? Maybe they can check the equipment in your apartment complex for any signs of animal damage.” The desk clerk suggested.  
  
Shouri nodded slowly. “We’ll do that. Thanks.”  
  
“Have a nice day!”  
  
\---  
  
“Now what Sho?” Blakki asked as they exited the police station. Shouri pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket and began to thumb through the interface. “She had a good suggestion – I’m going to call the electric company.” He told his partner in crime.  
  
“Why?” She asked, tilting her head slightly. Shouri called for silence with a raised index finger. He held his phone up to his ear and listened, he would pull the phone away from his head several times to press the screen.  
  
“Hello, yes, I wanted to find out about a previous outage.” He spoke up suddenly.  
“Last night at around 1:30AM or so.”  
“The Novo Heights Apartment complex.”  
  
There was a moment of silence. Shouri’s face suddenly contorted into an expression of confusion. “Wait, none? Not even the street lamps? Maybe it was a brown-out” He questioned. Blakki raised her brows in concern.  
  
“N-no, that’s fine. Thank you for your time.” The boy frowned hard, looking at his phone screen. “What happened?” Blakki inquired.  
  
Shouri jammed his phone back in his pocket. “They said according to their system the power was up full power all night for our complex.” He trailed off. Blakki stared, mouth slightly agape, unsure of what to say. “That doesn’t make any sense though, ‘cause we saw the lights were basically out.” He ruffled his hair in frustration.  
  
Blakki suddenly stood on the tips of her toes. “Hey Sho.” She called to him while looking off in the distance. “Hm?” He looked back in the direction Blakki was looking. His eyes widened as he realized what his fox-eared guest was looking at: another girl – one with rabbit ears. Specifically, the same rabbit-eared girl that saved them last night and next to her was that other woman – Faith.  
  
“You said you saw a rabbit eared girl last night?” Blakki asked for clarification.  
“Yeah, that’s totally them.” Shouri nodded.  
“Let’s go ask them!” Blakki went to chase after them but was pulled back by her own arm, being held in place by Shouri.  
  
“Wait wait.” He shook his head. “Let’s think about this for a second.”  
“What’s there to think about Sho?! That girl is like me! I need to talk to her!” Blakki moved to chase after them, however Shouri stepped in her wait.  
“You weren’t conscious, but she literally wants nothing to do with us.” He told her.  
“Ma però -!” She closed her mouth when Shouri placed his hands on her shoulders.  
  
“Listen Blakki, that woman didn’t even want to deal with us. I think the rabbit girl did some kind of healing thing on us? But only after she literally begged the other woman.” Shouri tried to explain the best he could.  
  
“Ah…” Blakki lowered her head. “Besides, they didn’t have any problem dealing with that cat. They’re strong whoever they are.” Shouri muttered.  
  
Blakki gritted her teeth. “Still! I just want to know what I am.” Tears of frustration started to build up in the young girl’s eyes. “I just wish I knew _something_.”  
  
“That’s a simple enough wish to grant.”  
  
Shouri and Blakki turned to see a small blond-haired boy standing there. He wore white robes with a space like pattern running up his sleeves and pants, he smiled at the two as if he was about to try to make a devilish deal; his red eyes fixated on the pair.  
  
Instantly Shouri was on the defensive, holding an arm up in front of Blakki. “Who are you?!” He demanded.  
  
The boy bowed. “Rejoice lost children- My name is Sahji and I’m the Sage of Wishes.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Wish?” Blakki tilted her head in confusion.  
“Sage?” Shouri raised an eyebrow. His arm remained outstretched in front of Blakki.  
  
“Indeed I am.” Sahji smirked in a way only a Cheshire cat would. He brought a finger behind one of the slips of paper attached to his earrings. “Your yearning was so strong that it has stained this paper with your desire.” He waxed poetically. Upon closer inspection the word “ANSWERS” was written on the slip. “I see no issue with granting such a simple wish – I’ll even do it for free this one time! All you must do is enter my office.” With those parting words, he vanished into the shop that was directly behind them. The pair that remained outside looked up and saw a sign that most certainly was not there before.  
  
 _“Sahji’s Psychic Consultation Service”  
_  
After confirming the sign was definitely up there and not a trick of the eyes, the two young adults looked to each other. “What should we do Sho?” Blakki asked.  
  
The boy studied the sign for a moment longer, black background with white chalk-like text, written in a fancy cursive. It was a nice sign, eye catching even; there was no way they would have missed it normally. Plus, this strange boy supposedly had answers. Supposedly.  
  
With a shrug, he gave a skeptical smirk. “Let’s go see what the little psycho has to say.” He decided, walking towards the door.  
  
“I-If you say so, Sho…” Blakki gulped, but followed.  
  
The store itself was very dark, courtesy of the shades which seemed to devour all light. There were several small circular tables scattered about, and a table near the back wall with a crystal ball sitting on it. There was also a back room, with curtains hiding the contents of the back room. "Employee Only" was stitched onto the curtains. Sahji walked out from the curtains, taking a seat behind his table.  
  
“Welcome to Sahji’s, please have a seat.” The boy beckoned his new guests. Shouri looked at Blakki. The two stared at each other for a moment before nodding and walking up to the table. They sat down on the two cushions laid out in front of the table. “You can take off your “disguise” now.” The sage said to Blakki. The girl looked back at the door nervously.  
  
“Wh-what disguise?” Blakki asked with a nervous smirk, trying to play it off.  
  
Instead of a verbal answer, Sahji held out his hand, it glowed a deep, dark purple. The lock on the door also glowed the same color, turning itself, and locking with a click. The chain got up and moved itself into the track and slid into a secure position. “H-how did you do that?!” Blakki yelped.  
  
Shouri, being a modern, jaded adult was less than impressed with suddenly locking door and a cute light show. “Nice trick.”  
  
“It’s no trick. Why, you saw a demonstration of this type of power already.” The sage replied simply.  
  
Given what he had witnessed last night, he was a bit more open to playing along if he got answers. “So you’re like that rabbit girl?” He questioned, leaving it vague enough so he could properly see how full of it this sage was.  
  
Sahji shrugged. He could sense Shouri’s skepticism, but didn’t seem to care. “In a sense yes, but also no.”  
  
Shouri narrowed his eyes. “What are you on about? Do you actually know anything or are you just wasting my god damn time?” He growled at the sage.  
  
“It’s quite simple really.” Sahji held out his hand, it once again glowed a distinct purple color. Blakki's hat floated off of her head and into the air. Her jacket unwrapped itself from her waist and seemed to put itself onto its owner; all of this revealing Blakki's animal-like features. The fox-girl in question simply blinked in disbelief as the glow from Sahji’s hand faded. Her hat landed in her hands as the glow vanished.  
  
“This power, is the power over darkness and the supernatural known as Lunar magic. It is one of seven possible elemental powers shared by the resonators of our world.” Sahji smirked. Shouri blinked, he was a bit taken aback by the display up close. Granted, he had seen some similar magics yesterday from the rabbit girl, but it was still going to take some getting used to. Blakki shook like a leaf, in fear of what this sage could possibly do to them.  
  
The wish sage shook his head. “Relax Blakki, you could fight me off if you wanted to.”  
  
The pair sitting across the table didn’t look convinced. “Blakki is a Lunar elemental, with an attribute for healing.” The sage spoke, pulling his hand back into his robes. He just confused the pair further, which just served to increase Shouri’s irritation towards the sage.  
  
“What are you even talking about?” The brown-haired boy growled, wanting proper answers. He was growing tired of the run-around this supposed “sage” was giving them.  
  
“There’s so much to explain young Shouri and so little time. As a sign of good faith for our first meeting, how about I let you lead the conversation?” The sage chuckled. Shouri narrowed his eyes, frowning hard at the shop keeper, but remaining silent. “What knowledge do you desire?” Sahji asked, folding his hands and placing them on the table. “I know you have questions, and I most certainly have answers.”  
  
Shouri closed his eyes. As irritating as this so called “sage” was, he seemed to be a legitimate source of information (for now). “Hmmm, let's see...” What would even be a good question? There was so much to ask, but if he asked the wrong question, this idiot sage would just start running his mouth about things they wouldn’t understand. Then it hit him: Start with the basics.  
  
“First off Blakki and that rabbit girl, what exactly are they?”  
  
What; that word seemed to hit Blakki in a soft spot causing her to wilt merely by it being spoken. It made her feel so detached from the other people around her. Like she was some kind of circus attraction.  
  
Without missing a beat, Sahji began providing the answer to the inquiry. “Althea, Blakki, and myself are all not native to this world.” He stated matter-of-factly.  
  
“C-Che?!” Blakki gasped, slipping back into Italian.  
  
“Figured it was something like that.” Shouri rolled his eyes, not too terribly surprised. It was either that or inhumane experiments gone awry. At least this way Blakki (and by extension Ally the rabbit girl) were natural creatures, albeit from a different world.  
  
Blakki herself, didn’t take this news very well. She slammed her hands on the table. “What am I?!” She cried out. The fox-girl pushed herself until she was standing and pulled her fluffy black tail in front of her. “Why am I this...THING!?” Tears came to her eyes as an outpouring of emotions kept her talking. “And-” She bit her bottom lip. “Why can't I remember anything?!" The girl shouted at the sage as if he was the one that put her in this situation.  
  
Sahji just remained calm, his eyes narrowing just ever so slightly in boredom of the outburst. “Calm down, child; I am getting to that. Now sit down, you look ridiculous.” He motioned for the girl to take her seat.  
  
The wildfire of emotions that had welled up in the fox-girl had rapidly burnt away, just leaving her sad. “Mi dispiace.” Blakki sat down, she sniffled sadly, clutching her hat tightly. She saw Shouri's hand on her own. She looked over at the boy. He just smiled at her.  
  
“It'll be ok.”  
“Sho…”  
  
Sahji cleared his throat. “As I was saying.” He began. “Blakki and I come from an earth similar in a lot of respects to this one. The primary difference is the existence of magical creatures known as “Resonators””  
  
“Resonators?” Shouri asked. Blakki merely stared. That word felt so familiar to her. She didn’t know what this all-knowing sage was about to explain, but she knew it would be something that would change her life.  
  
“In our world there is a magical energy known as Rhythm.” Sahji began this new explanation, and hovered his hand over the crystal ball on the table. It glowed a fiery red, blue, and yellow. “Rhythm is the energy of the soul, burning it can unleash immense power.” The three colors began to swirl around each other like water and oil.  
  
“The humans of our world are known as Maestros, and the Demi-humans like Blakki, are Resonators. With a Maestro’s command, he can pass his rhythm to his contracted Resonator.”  
  
Much to Sahji’s delight, Shouri was following along and had lost the skepticism he had previously. “And what does that do?” Shouri asked.  
  
“It enables the Resonator to perform what your world might think of as magic.” The sage breathed out  
  
“M-magic?” Shouri asked.  
  
“Yes. A maestro’s “order" can enable Resonators to do incredible things: Produce large volumes of high-pressure water, breathe fire, generate electricity, even heal their own or others injuries.” Sahji explained  
  
Blakki looked down at her own hands. This wasn’t what she was expecting. “And I can do some of these things?” She asked for clarification.  
  
“Yes, you can. Let me explain a little bit about Resonators in general. Each Resonator has an Element and an Attribute. The element is obvious, Fire, water, lightning, your basic elemental affinity.” The orb on the table swirled in seven different colors – red, blue, yellow, green, orange, black, white. “The attribute determines how your body uses the rhythm it’s provided. Your elemental magic takes shape from your attribute. Slash like a sword, pierce like an arrow, crush like a club.”  
  
Blakki nodded, it kind of made sense in a way. But she really wanted to know about herself. “So what am I?” She asked.  
  
“You’re a Lunar-Elemental, Healing-attribute”  
A raised eyebrow from the fox girl. “Healing?”  
“Your kind, caring soul seeks to soothe others through the rhythm it is provided.” Sahji waxed poetically for the pair.  
  
Blakki ignored the poetry and was more distressed about another pressing matter. “But why can't I remember any of this?” This seemed like an awfully important part of her life that she was just conveniently forgetting.  
  
“Why indeed?” Sahji chuckled.  
  
“Didn’t you say you’d answer our questions?!” Blakki barked, resisting the tears building up in her eyes. “I did, but what fun is there in spoiling all the surprises? I can tell you this for the sake of the story: the process that brought you here wiped your memories clean.”  
  
The girl was devastated. “S-s-so-” She gulped hard, hesitant to finish her thought. “-I'll never remember anything about my past?” The fox-girl shook slightly as she asked this. She was afraid of the answer but she needed to know. Sahji adverted his gaze, that was all he had to do. Blakki understood and she didn’t like it. She shook her head in denial. “N-no...Th-that can't be right..” Tears broke free of the dam once more and began to flow anew.  
  
“And should you follow that process again the same thing would happen.” Sahji added in.  
  
“So I would-” Blakki looked to the boy on her right. He stared back, concern on his face. “-Sho-” She turned her gaze back towards Sahji. “-I would forget him?” Blakki sniffled.  
  
The sage nodded. “Yes. Sad to say.” He spoke solemnly. She lowered her head.  
  
“But wait-” Something didn’t sit right with her. “If that's true then-” Blakki looked up at the sage. She pointed at him. “You. You remember all of this. You know all of this. How?”  
  
Shouri nodded, that was a good point. Thankfully Sahji seemed to love to hear himself talk, as he took a breath before launching into another explanation. “I am beyond time and space. I one of the Sages of balance which watch over the many versions of this world. I have seen you in many forms, and have guided and watched over you throughout. I have seen you grow, have children, die, and watch the same happen to your children. For eons and eons have I served as the single force known as hope.” The pair of wayward adults merely stared at this apparent force of nature that was explaining their job to them.  
  
“So would you be a god then?” Shouri questioned.  
  
“No, that is my Lord. I am simply a personification of the hopes and wishes of humanity.” Sahji laughed with a shrug “You think your day job is bad.” He added in as a joke.  
  
Shouri frowned however. Not because of the bad joke, but because of how much this creature seemed to know. There was something else that bothered him though that he wanted to ask about. “I’m confused about something.” Shouri began. “Naturally.” Sahji cut in.  
  
“Asshole.” Shouri spat with a glare. “What was with that leopard thing last night? Was that something also from your world?” He asked.  
  
Sahji lit up. “Ah yes!” Sure enough, as expected, the sage of explanations launched into another speech. “As explained previously, resonators are demi-humans that aren’t from this world.”  
  
“What you encountered last night is what is called a Scherzando. These creatures are subject to the same Element and Alignment chart as Resonators.” Sahji placed his hand on the crystal ball in front of him causing the orb to show vaguely animal-like shapes. “You can think of this as a ball of rhythm. However-” He paused and looked up to the pair sitting across from it. “-it is feral. It runs on instinct. It's not human.”  
  
“So when that rabbit girl fought it last night she…” Blakki trailed off, not wanting to finish that thought.  
  
Sahji looked to the fox girl. She seemed bothered by the idea of killing a living creature. “It can't be killed. It was never alive in the first place. It is just a ball of energy.” The sage tittered as he spoke, though Blakki still looked uncomfortable with this.  
  
Shouri frowned, his arms folded across his chest. This was good information, but all this explanation did was raise more questions. “What’s the deal with these things anyways, where do they come from?” Shouri spoke up.  
  
The blond-haired sage turned to the other young adult at the table. “Are you familiar with the “climate-change” epidemic of your world?” Sahji asked suddenly.  
  
Shouri blinked. “Eh?” That was a random switch in topic. “Yeah, burning coal and fossil fuels and shit causes build ups of carbon in the air which makes the planet hotter right?” He clumsily explained, having been put on the spot.   
  
A smirk from the sage. “Close enough. In our world we don’t have such a problem since rhythm controls basically everything we do.” He began. “Instead, because of the amount of rhythm that is burnt away by such a large population, the burnt away emotions, feelings, memories gather into clumps and form these creatures, these Scherzando, echoes of melodies once played.”  
  
The two young adults stared at the much older sage, entranced by his words.  
  
“Without having a conscious or soul, these beings run on pure feral instinct. They think not of who or what they are hurting. They hunger, so they hunt. And because of the abundance of Scherzando in our world, they slip into this world.”  
  
“They do not feel pain except the pangs of hunger. They know that by stopping the resonator, the maestro is powerless. Dispatching the resonator is like peeling back the hide of a delicious fruit.”  
  
“They pose no threat to the tacet humans of this world. Only the few resonators that exist on this side. Those who have not been awoken to the gift of rhythm are completely safe from these beasts.”  
  
Silence. The gravity of last night’s situation hit them like a ton of bricks.  
  
The boy gulped. Blakki looked over, staring at Shouri fearfully. “So... It would have…” The boy trailed off, still trying to process what could have happened to them.  
  
“In the event that a resonator cannot defeat a Scherzando in battle, it would kill the resonator and then devour the maestro.”  
  
Shouri stared at the ground, he trembled a bit. They were an inch away from dying. That thing would have killed and eaten them. Would it have left a mess? “Sho...” Blakki stared at him and looked down herself. The feelings of guilt and inadequacy rushed back. She gripped the fabric of her pants tightly as she fought the urge to start crying in frustration.  
  
The fear and raw emotion that radiated from the two young adults that sat in front of him were not lost to the sage. However, he had seen it before. It didn’t really move him as much as it would have so many years ago. “Any other questions?” Sahji asked  
  
The pair remained silent, still caught up in their emotions.  
  
The first to find their courage again was Shouri. He raised his head and a point: “W-wait, then that woman that was with the rabbit girl! Was she from your world too?”  
  
Sahji leaned on the table and smirked. “Do you really think you’re special?”  
  
“Eh?” The duo blinked.  
  
“I’ve had quite a few Maestros and Resonators that sat in this very shop. It’s quite a hot spot for them.” The sage told the pair.  
  
Shouri began to speak rather quickly. “What do you need to be a maestro? Is it an aptitude thing? Or do you have to have some kind of special blood?”  
  
There seemed to be a glint in Sahji’s eye as he caught on to something. “Oh? Why the sudden interest in that particular topic Mr. Tomoshibi?”  
  
The boy jumped a bit at the call-out. “Eh?!” Shouri looked away. “I just want to help Blakki is all.” He trailed off  
  
At this point Sahji’s smirk had evolved into a full toothy grin. “Or maybe there is an ulterior motive? Maybe you're scared another Maestro is going to come and take Blakki away from you?” He leaned in closer, giving a coy smirk to Shouri.  
  
“O-Of course not! I-If one of these Maestro people can protect Blakki better... then I can...” Shouri looked down, he looked at Blakki who was just staring at him with a longing expression. He couldn’t deny the way Blakki was looking at him. He gritted his teeth. “..Nngh..Fine…” Shouri grumbled in defeat.  
  
“Ehhhh? What’s that Shouri-boy?” Sahji turned his ear towards Shouri, cupping his hand around it so he could hear Shouri’s admission.  
  
“I-I admit it!” He shouted. ”I... don't want Blakki to go away.” Shouri muttered, looking back down again.  
  
“Sounds like you’d like to be her Maestro then.” Sahji sat up straight, clapping. Shouri nodded slowly.  
  
"Let me clear something up for you two: all of the maestros currently in this world are from this world. They are all normal people just like you that got mixed up and are now keeping a Resonator. In fact, simply by having me explain this, you have gained the aptitude to become a maestro.” He clarified for the distraught pair. Shouri and Blakki looked at each other, then back at the sage.  
  
“So what do we do?” Shouri asked. He didn’t really know about these magical powers Blakki supposedly had, also the rhythm thing. If he could be a Maestro, he would have to be able to use it right?  
  
Sahji meanwhile had gotten up from his seat. “Well, firstly.” The sage walked around the table and began looking at the back of Blakki's head. Naturally the lack of respect of Blakki’s personal space put the two mortal adults on edge  
  
“Wh-what are you doing?” Blakki whimpered, too scared to turn her head and look at the figure behind her.  
  
“This.” Sahji said simply. Blakki's eyes went wide, she slumped forward, laying on the table, completely immobile “WHAT DID YOU DO?!” Shouri roared at the sage in a pure rage. He hadn't seen what Sahji had been up to on the count of his long robes obscuring Shouri's view.  
  
“Relax, I just put a chip in her.” Sahji brushed off Shouri’s concern, more focused on looking at the syringe that he had used on Blakki.  
  
“Relax? Relax?! You just killed her! Murderer!” Shouri barked.  
  
The sage walked back around the table, but decided to defend his honor. “She's unconscious! For god’s sake all you people have the same reaction!” Sahji barked as he returned to his side of the table.  
  
Taking his seat once more, he leaned on the table. “Don't worry about her, I have a few more things to explain to you.” Sahji told Shouri. The boy hesitantly looked away from his new companion and back at the insane sage. “Stick your hand in this ball.” He pointed at the crystal ball on the table.  
  
”You're mad.” Shouri said in disbelief. Despite that comment, he found himself reaching his hand out anyways, his eyes went wide as his hand just seemed to slip into what he thought was a solid glass ball. When he was about elbow deep into the crystal ball, he felt something forced into his hand.  
  
When he pulled his hand out from the orb there was a small device in his grasp. Shouri recognized it as being similar to the device that woman, Faith, was holding before.  
  
The device had a distinctive shape to it, it was flat with a belt clip on the back. It was a rectangular device where the top and bottom curved out. On each side of it, there were half circles. On rectangular portion there was what appeared to be a touch screen, and on the half circles there were buttons, two for each side. The material was currently a clear color. Three of the buttons were gray in color, with one red button.  
  
“This device is known as a tuner. Hold the device near the back of Blakki’s head.” Sahji instructed. Shouri did exactly that. The screen suddenly lit up. All kinds of information scrolled by the screen, eventually resting on a clock screen. Interestingly the clear plastic material that made up the body of the device started to fade to black.  
  
“Alright, you have four basic modes here. The upper left button is to talk directly to Blakki, you have to hold that down while talking. The lower right button is for listening to whatever Blakki is saying at the time, that one is just a toggle. The upper right button is for viewing Blakki's statistics and attacks, it is a touch screen so you can just scroll through that.” Sahji explained, pointing to each button in turn as he told the new Maestro of their functions  
  
“What about the lower right?” Shouri asked, noting the sage didn’t say anything about the bright red button.  
  
The sage grimaced at that question. “Oh, I was hoping you wouldn't ask about that button.” He muttered.  
  
Shouri raised an eyebrow. “What is so bad about that button?” He asked.  
  
With an almost tired sigh, the sage spoke. “That button is for making Blakki follow whatever command you tell her.” He paused. “Whether she wants to or not.”  
  
The boy stared at the sage for a moment. After finding the words he wanted to use, he finally braved asking the question “Why is that even there?” He looked down at the device in his hand, specifically staring at the red button. “That's robbing her of her free will.”  
  
“Let’s just say it’s a cultural difference between our worlds. Anyways the button is very potent. You could even order her unconscious if need be.” Sahji clarified the exact power that button held.  
  
The new maestro refused to believe he was understanding this right and wanted to confirm. “So what, I just say “pass out” and she would do it?”  
  
“Pretty much.” Sahji shrugged.  
  
The boy stared at the device in disgust. “That's terrible.”  
  
“All Tuners have that function.”  
“I don't like it.”  
  
Sahji was a bit relieved that Shouri seemed to hate the idea of the control button “You don't HAVE to use it.”  
  
“I know, but it is there, and that alone bothers me.” Shouri replied.  
  
Blakki stirred. She brought her head up off the table. She swayed back and forth, everything seemed to be spinning at the moment. What had even happened to her? “Sho..?” The fox-girl looked over to her new Maestro. “Wha hazzen?” She slurred her words.  
  
Shouri shot a glare at Sahji. “After-effect of the chip installation, she'll be a bit woozy and uncoordinated for a little bit.” The sage explained quickly.  
  
“I think that will be enough for today.” Shouri took Blakki's hat from her and put it on her head, making sure to tuck her ears under it. He then pulled off her jacket and wrapped it around her waist like before  
  
“Come on Blakki, let's get you home.” The maestro helped his new resonator up. “I wish you safe travels.” The sage smiled, remaining seated. The newly partnered pair hobbled out of the store, leaving Sahji to his own devices.  
  
“You’ll definitely need it for what’s ahead.” Sahji chuckled to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

Evening would arrive and with it, a return to normalcy – or as much as one could get when keeping a magic fox girl in one’s company.  
  
Speaking of which, the magical fox girl in question walked back into Shouri's room wearing her t-shirt and pants, her hair was messy and moist; a towel around her neck to prevent her shirt from getting soaked. She closed the door behind her. “All nice and clean. Thank you for letting me take a shower, I really needed it.” Blakki said with a laugh.  
  
Shouri was at his computer, completely focused on the various articles he was scrolling through. He did acknowledge his resonator’s comment though: “It's cool. I'm your maestro now, so I guess I have to take care of you.”  
  
The brunet adult looked frustrated. He tried searching the internet for resonators, but predictably didn't find any kind of relevant results. Even searching Sahji’s name itself didn’t yield any information that would be of use to them. “Figured.” Shouri leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling.  
  
Making her way to the bed, Blakki glanced over at her maestro. “What are you doing Sho?” She inquired, taking a seat on the comfy bed.  
  
“Trying to look up some of the terms that Sahji used. Even looking up Sahji himself.” Shouri told his companion.  
  
She tilted her head slightly. That was a good idea. “Any luck?”  
  
The boy grimaced in annoyance, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. “Not a damn thing. Either nobody posts about it, or someone is going around deleting the information. Based on what we experienced today, either result seems likely at this point.” Shouri groused, shooting a glare back at the useless search results littering his screen.  
  
A moment of silence. Blakki fidgeted nervously, not sure what to say. So she just went with her gut: “So now what? I'm yours Shouri.”  
  
It was a weird dynamic, this maestro and resonator thing. Shouri unclipped the tuner from his pants and held it over him. The seconds continued to tick on. “Yeah.” Shouri sat up and turned his chair to face the fox girl. “It's all so sudden. Two days ago I was a normal guy living my boring everyday life, fast-forward to today and a girl with animal ears and a tail is sitting on my bed.” He explained.  
  
The girl wilted and shifted her gaze towards the ground. “Yeah…”  
  
Shouri took note of this. Blakki always looked so down whenever she compared herself to other people. It was obvious she was doing this. She just always seemed out of place. “Stop worrying about it.” He said suddenly.  
  
“Eh?” Blakki looked up.  
  
“Don’t feel like you’re intruding or making my life more difficult. I didn’t really have much going on before I found you.” He told her. “But now… we could very well die if we’re not careful.” His voice dropped to a whisper, but Blakki’s hearing was just simply too good to miss that. Her expression clouded as she lowered her head.  
  
Shouri rose to his feet, which immediately drew Blakki’s attention. He crawled around her and laid in bed, yanking the covers over himself without a single word to his resonator. Blakki once again hung her head, remaining seated on the edge of her maestro’s bed. The situation last night was bad, but Sahji’s clear explanation of the consequences of another failure like that weighed heavily on the now partnered duo.  
  
Blakki looked over at the owner of the bed she was sitting on. Said owner simply laid there, back towards her. The resonator was worried for her new maestro. He had been mostly quiet since they left Sahji’s, in fact, the conversation leading up to this situation had been the first real conversation they had since they got home. Her worry was compounded by fear. Scared for herself, and for Shouri. If what Sahji said was true, those… things would keep appearing and come after them. Would she be able to fight them like the wish sage claimed?  
  
That didn’t help improve her mood. If anything, it made her feel worse about the situation. She supposedly had these amazing powers and she couldn’t even protect the one person she cared about when it really mattered. As far as she was concerned, she was an absolute failure of a resonator. Blakki sighed, burying her face in her hands. After remaining this way for a few minutes, she allowed her hands to drop from their held position. Shouri remained unmoving besides the subtle movements of his breathing, that much she could hear.  
  
She leaned back, turning her head towards her maestro. “Sho, I'm sorry.” The lunar resonator whispered. Shouri flipped over suddenly to face Blakki. The sudden movement startled the young adult.   
  
“Why are you apologizing?” He muttered. He avoided her eyes. He didn’t want to face her directly.  
  
She stared at the pained expression in the boy’s eyes. It made her feel terrible. “Because I didn't protect you.” Shouri ducked under his blanket. Blakki suddenly heard his voice in her head.  
  
“In case you don't remember, I'm the one that controls your powers, it's my fault.”  
“We didn’t even know about these powers!”  
“Powers or not; I shouldn’t have taken that risk - we should have stayed inside.”  
  
Clenching her fists tight and glaring, the girl spun off the bed, rising to her feet in one solid motion. She grabbed his blanket. “Sho!” Calling out her nickname for him, she tore the blanket away from its owner. He laid curled up, holding the tuner in his hands. “I...” The girl glared at him, but her intense expression quickly went downcast as her fire tapered off. “I dunno.” Blakki dropped the blanket, laid down on the bed next to Shouri.  
  
The young man quickly turned away. He gulped hard. “Wh-what are you doing?” He finally spoke up.  
  
Poor Blakki was exhausted physically and mentally. She spoke her mind. “I just wanna be close to you… In case something happens.” She yawned.  
  
“I-is that so?” Shouri replied. He didn't face the girl who now laid next to him. He faced the opposite direction, his face flushed, eyes open wide.  
  
The girl in question yawned again. “It's okay Sho. We'll do better next time.” She smiled warmly, patting Shouri's side. “Let's just sleep.” The girl muttered drowsily. She certainly seemed comfortable already.  
  
Still uneasy about this arrangement, the boy acknowledged his partner’s request. “S-sure.” Shouri closed his eyes for a moment.  
  
Opening his eyes, the room was much darker than before. He sat up quickly. They had really fallen asleep. It was now around nine or so. A quick check of the tuner confirmed this fact. He looked to his left and saw Blakki sleeping peacefully next to him, the full moon illuminated the room and gave her a rather charming appearance.  
  
He thought about how seemingly attached to him she was, even after only a few days. Perhaps he could…  
  
“...No..”  
  
Shouri quickly got out of bed and woke up his computer from its sleep mode. Blakki opened her eyes. Sitting up, she stretched her arms, as well as her tail. “Did you sleep alright Sho?” Blakki yawned.  
  
“Yes.” He replied curtly. “Feel anything weird?”  
  
Blakki looked around the barely illuminated room. Her heart began to race. She had dismissed her previously intrusive thoughts regarding the Scherzando. She calmed slightly when she came to the realization that they were safe for the moment. “Not right now.”  
  
“Good, you hungry?”  
“Eheheh… now that you mention it…”  
  
After about ten minutes the pair was enjoying the fanciest of microwave dinners: canned pasta. Blakki stared down at a bowl of heated raviolis. From what Shouri had told her, they weren’t in the best situation financially. She couldn’t even think about offering to help out because of what she was. Her shoulders slumped as she began to consume the meager food she was given. Why didn’t she have a power that let her produce limitless gold or something? Maybe then she’d be useful to Shouri.  
  
Useless. That’s what she felt. She didn’t want to talk about it. Shouri would just try to correct her perception of herself. She didn’t want that. She just wanted to stew in her emotions.  
  
“I’m going to try to get some more sleep.”  
“Oh, good night Blakki.  
“B-buona notte… Shouri…”  
  
Crawling into the closet, Blakki nestled up among her blankets and fell asleep, hoping to forget her troubles.  
  
Just as soon as she had closed her eyes to sleep, they were back open again. Some time had passed for sure, but to the exact amount, that’d be a mystery to the young fox-girl. The amount of time that had passed was of little consequence.  
  
It was back.  
  
She trembled. “Sh-sh-sho. Sho! Sho! Ho paura!” The girl cried out fearfully from her closet. Shouri opened the door seconds later to find his resonator staring up at him absolutely terrified. He knelt down near her. The boy didn’t want to speak, but he knew what he had to do.  
  
“Another one?” He asked with a gulp.  
  
“S-si!” Came the yelp almost immediately.  
  
Mulling over their options, he looked his partner in the eyes before speaking again. “Kill or be killed.” Shouri stood up straight. He offered his hand for Blakki. She accepted his hand and he pulled her to her feet.  
  
She bit her bottom lip. “A-are we ready?” Blakki asked after a moment of silence between the two.  
  
He nodded. “Don’t really have a choice in the matter. We have to try. It'll come here if what Sahji said was true. And if we don’t it’ll…” He trailed off. She knew what he was implying. But that spoke volumes to the resonator. He was just as nervous and scared as she was. She was supposed to protect him. This was her chance to prove herself.  
  
Taking his hands and gripping them tightly, she looked him straight in the eyes. “Sho. I trust you one-hundred percent. Do what you think is best. And I'll follow you.” Blakki smiled. Shouri just stared, her blue eyes sparkled from the moonlight filtering in the window.  
  
He inhaled deeply, then exhaled. “Well, let’s go.”  
  
\-----  
  
The beast was hunting them. If what Sahji spoke of earlier in the day was true, the Scherzando would try and find them. That made things a bit easy. They could lure it into a favorable spot to fight. Shouri decided that spot would be the edge of the forest near the end of town.  
  
The duo stood awaiting their adversary. Shouri mouthed out the spell names he’d be using. They only had two to their name, but they’d have to do. According to his list of spells, they had a “Lunar” spell, and a “Heal” spell. He was thankful for the second spell because at least if he messed this up somehow, he would be able to ease Blakki’s pain (or so he hoped). The second thing that made him nervous was how this would affect him. If the sage’s words were to be believed, Shouri himself was the source of Blakki’s magic - How many spells could she use before he’d be totally drained?  
  
There was some rustling in the underbrush nearby. Blakki came to a stop, glaring at the shrubbery in question. She didn’t need to say anything for Shouri to get the hint. He braced himself where he stood, raising the tuner to a level where he could read off his spells. Their opponent would emerge mere seconds later: a glowing, blue deer stepped out into the small clearing they were in. Without warning, it opened its mouth and a stream of water slammed into Blakki, pushing her off her feet into Shouri. The pair were tossed into a tree behind them like leaves in a breeze.  
  
Scrambling to their feet, they were now ready to fight. On the “battle” screen that the tuner had produced, Shouri noted some of Blakki’s rhythm was taken out of the displayed bar. He guessed that her rhythm had some defensive merits? Either way the damage done didn’t amount to much, but it was there. Flipping between their two spells, there was something he now took notice of. There were levels, however in their current state, only one level was available for each spell. Conveniently upon highlighting the Lunar spell, he found the full command he was supposed to give.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Pianissimo!” He called out. Immediately he felt a strange draw on his body in Blakki’s direction. It wasn’t debilitating, but it was definitely noticeable.  
  
Blakki meanwhile, felt a rush she had never experienced before. Her body just moved. Shouri’s call gave her all the information she needed to know with no conscious effort needed on her part to execute his order. It was so natural. It felt so good. Her fear at facing this Scherzando melted away. Executing the command was simple enough in this state: holding out a hand, she formed a ball of purplish, lunar energy. Once formed the orb pulsated almost like a blob of gelatinous material. She pulled her arm back and chucked the orb like a baseball at the opposing scherzando. She hit her target head on, causing it to reel back from the blow.  
  
Shouri nodded. That was their attack spell. That was how they were going to defeat these things. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t down for the count, while it did reel back, the deer-like creature was still in the fight.  
  
It swung its head forward, a stream of solid ice following the movement of its head. Blakki shielded herself with her arms and remained where she was standing. As the ice shards pelted her, she stayed steadfast in her position to shield her precious maestro from the assault.  
  
“Are you okay?!” Shouri shouted.  
“Bene! Next command!” She shouted back.  
  
Shouri glanced down at the tuner. That last hit had hurt a bit more than he would like. He wasn’t sure how long this heal thing would take. An opening, they’d have to make one and he had an idea on how to accomplish that task.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Pianissimo!” One ball of lunar energy appeared in Blakki’s hand. “Luce Lunare, Pianissimo!” He repeated. She got a second one. The girl smirked and threw one ball smacking the creature, then while it was flinching in shock of the first hit, she threw the second ball, throwing it off its feet.  
  
“La Bella Vita Presto!” Was the next command. The resonator blinked, but closed her eyes and focused on the rhythm she was receiving. Some of the dull pain from the previous hits faded away. It was a nice, soothing feeling that washed over her body. Shouri would observe the rhythm bar on his tuner rise from the heal Blakki had just performed on herself. He was thankful that was a true healing spell and not like a status cleanser or something of that nature like he saw in the role-playing games he used to love as a child.  
  
The water Scherzando had managed to shakily get to its feet. However, the weakness in the beast was not lost on both Shouri and Blakki. The lunar resonator pulled her arm back, already prepping her next attack.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Pianissimo!”  
  
As soon as the orb was fully formed in her grasp, she put all of her strength into this final throw.  
  
WHAM  
  
One more solid hit slammed the creature into the tree. It slumped to the ground and began to fade away like the flames of a dying fire.  
  
Blakki’s focused glare faded into a smile as she realized it was their victory.  
  
“Ce l'abbiamo fatta!” The girl turned to her maestro, but her smile quickly faded as he leaned back against the tree trying to catch his breath. “Sh-sho…?”


	6. Chapter 6

The following morning…  
  
Blakki opened her eyes sleepily. She was in her closet once more; a new morning had come upon her. Her ears twitched, she curled up under her blanket and hugged her tail. “Tired… don’t wanna get up…” The sleepy girl mumbled. After their battle last night, they had snuck back into the apartment and she kept a close eye on Shouri all night since using all those spells last night seemed to have wiped him out. Her eyes slowly fell shut again, after all she had basically gotten no sleep last night. Her ears twitched as she listened to the ambient noise while trying to drift back to sleep.  
  
She slowly opened her eyes again. There was a strange… thumping sound rapidly approaching the room. The young vixen sat up to try and focus on the source of the sound, when pandemonium broke loose.  
  
SLAM  
  
“SHOURI ZAFFRE TOMOSHIBI!”  
  
Blakki's eyes shot fully open, as she threw the blanket over her head in fear. She shook fearfully as she listened to the angry growling of Shouri's sister.  
  
“God damn woman, it's like seven in the morning. And put on some clo-”  
  
THWACK!  
  
Shouri's mouth had gotten him in trouble as from what Blakki could guess, Aura had thrown something at him based on the distinct sound of something making impact with her maestro’s face.  
  
“LOOK AT THAT SHOURI!”  
“Ow. Yes, this is a shampoo bottle.”  
“NO ASSHOLE! Look how much is left!”  
“A little under half.”  
  
The resonator gulped, a cold sweat permeating her very being. “Uh oh…” Blakki muttered under her breath.  
  
“HALF?! MORE LIKE A QUATER OF THE FUCKING BOTTLE!” Aura paused to take a breath. “THAT WAS A BRAND-NEW BOTTLE!”  
  
“Uhg, fine, I'm sorry, I’ll get a new one today. Now please get out of my room, you're dripping water on the carpet.” Blakki heard the sound of Aura presumably catching the bottle, followed by the thunderous stomping out of the room. 

SLAM  
  
Blakki looked up as the door to the closet opened. Shouri stood at the entrance of the closet, looking down at his contracted fox-girl “Really? Half the damn bottle?”  
  
The poor girl trembled in fear. “M-mi dispiace...” Blakki sniffled whimpering. She buried her face in her pillow in a vain attempt to avoid her maestro’s wrath. She suddenly felt Shouri grab her tail. “Eh?!” The girl looked back at Shouri suddenly. He sniffed her tail. Warmth enveloped her entire face as Shouri had practically buried his face in her tail.  
  
“It smells like apples.” The boy noted, releasing the girl’s tail. She quickly pulled her tail back and sat up quickly, hugging the fluffy appendage. Her face was quite red at this point.  
  
“S-sì...I... really liked the scent… I didn’t want my tail to smell like river anymore.” She admitted.  
  
“It was a good choice, seeing how the scent matches your face right now.” Shouri snickered.  
  
Her face grew redder, but her fear had melted away as Shouri now teased her. “Dacci un taglio Sho!” The girl pouted at him.  
  
\-----  
  
After the lovely early morning fiasco the pair was out to replace the shampoo bottle that Shouri would still swear that Blakki probably drank.  
  
“Hey Sho?” The fox girl in question called to her maestro, as they walked. She was decked out in her “street girl disguise”. They were walking down the street, the sun now having risen and the morning commute but a distant memory.  
  
Shouri looked up from his tuner. “Yeah?”  
“Don't you go to school?” She questioned.  
  
His gaze drifted back to his tuner as he mulled over how he wanted to respond. “Nah. I graduated last year. I do some college work on the computer. Just kinda at my own pace.” The way the boy spoke, there was something more to that, but Blakki didn’t have the courage to pry into her maestro’s past. Though, one realization she had come to over the past couple of days she was the type of person who got easily attached. So naturally that sparked some curiosity about her mysterious benefactor.  
  
As they walked, Blakki felt a bit odd. “Che?” She stopped in front of shop they had passed by. Looking up at the sign it read “Renoir’s Apparel” Looking through the front window she could see all manners of clothes proudly displayed on mannikins. The styles of clothing varied wildly, with seemingly no consistency among the pieces being shown off.   
  
“Blakki! Come on! We gotta avoid the lunch rush!” She hear Shouri call for her. “C-coming Sho!” She shouted back. The lunar resonator stole one last look back into the shop before chasing after her maestro.  
  
\---  
  
After the shampoo was obtained, there wasn’t much else for the two to do in town, so they returned home. Blakki tried to stay up, but the previous night’s battle combined with the comfiness of Shouri’s bed ultimately won out and she fell fast asleep.  
  
Thud click!  
  
“Eh?” She slowly opened her eyes. Something felt off. It was still daytime but…  
  
Shouri wasn’t at his PC like normal. She closed her eyes and listened for him - he was probably making lunch or something. It was odd, she couldn't hear anything. Normally if she focused, she could hear Shouri's heart-beat, but at this moment in time she couldn't even hear that. The computer fan wasn't spinning as it usually was when Shouri was on the computer. All the usual noises she had become accustomed to hearing when Shouri was home were totally absent.  
  
This concerned the girl greatly. Blakki sat up. His phone and their tuner were missing from their resting place on his computer desk. She slid out of bed and slowly crept across the room, taking great care to not to make any noise. She tip-toed over to the bedroom door and pressed herself against it, cupping one of her fluffy, sensitive fox ears on it. She could hear someone humming, and one heart-beat. The humming was a woman’s voice.  
  
Quickly and quietly, the nervous fox-girl retreated into the closet and shut the door. “I'm all alone in this closet with Aura in the other room” Blakki fretted to herself. “Oh Sho, why did you leave me here?” She held her head, trying her hardest to not completely succumb to the increasing panic attack. Without realizing it she had started pacing back and forth. “Questo non va bene... What if she comes in here? What if she catches me?” The resonator whimpered. Finally, she decided to curl up in the back of the closet and just be stressed out.  
  
Time passed, Blakki's perception of the world skewed from her stress, so she didn’t know exactly how long it had been since she had woken up. What snapped her back to reality was the turning of the tumblers of the doorknob - her worst fears coming true. She hid under the blanket, trembling in fear. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she awaited her demise. She heard the snap back of the doorknob’s latch bolt. “No.. per favore…”She whimpered.  
  
“Blakki?”  
  
The next moment Shouri was on the ground, Blakki holding him tightly. “Where did you go?! I was so scared! You left me alone with your sister!” The hysterical girl cried as she rubbed her face against his.  
  
“Get off of me.” Shouri gasped out, having been winded by his resonator’s assault.   
  
With a sheepish smile, the girl removed herself from her maestro. “Scusa.” She apologized. “Where did you go?” Blakki asked, her ears pointed straight up, tail swishing back and forth as she sat on her knees with her legs splayed on either side of her.

He stood up and walked over to his computer. “Out.” Came the gruff reply. He turned on the computer and sat in his chair, making it clear that he wasn’t interested in continuing that conversation.  
  
The girl’s smile slowly faded from her face as she soon realized he wasn’t going to answer her question properly. “Sh-sho..?” Blakki folded her ears back and her tail fell to the ground. “You're not gonna tell me..?” She muttered, as she watched her dear maestro return to his normal everyday activities.  
  
Blakki resumed laying on Shouri's bed, observing him. She pondered why he wouldn’t tell her where he went. Rolling onto her back and stretching her arms out, the young woman continued thinking as she stared at the ceiling. He must not have trusted her. It made sense after all, they had only really known each other for about four days. Who would one hundred percent trust someone after four days? Besides herself of course. This depressed Blakki as she put her absolute faith in Shouri. Her mind continued to wander. She just fell into Shouri's life. She knew a little bit about the boy. But not all that much.  
  
That thought bothered her too. What the heck did she know? Shouri and Aura live together, are brother and sister and have no parents. Their grandparents apparently own the building Shouri and Aura live in, but otherwise aren’t involved. Aura has a job and goes to college while Shouri doesn't go to school, and instead does some college stuff online. He never really seemed to go anywhere, have any friends over, or anything. Did he have a girlfriend?  
  
Tired, curious, blue eyes looked over to Shouri. He was typing away on the keyboard. Nah. Why would he have a girlfriend? What type of girl would Shouri like anyways? A quiet girl that was kind of like he was? The fox-girl sat up. Why the heck was she thinking about this again? Blakki shook her head and laid down once more, back facing the other inhabitant of the room. “Stupid Sho making me think about things.” Blakki mumbled grumpily under her breath.  
  
\---  
  
Hour would pass, with Blakki stewing in her negative emotions. Despite it all she would eventually return to dreamland without even realizing it.  
  
“Bl…”  
“Bl…ki  
“Blakki…”  
  
“Muhh…?” The fox-girl slowly opened her eyes. “Dinner’s ready.” He spoke gently. Blakki sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Sho.” She smiled groggily. Put in front of her was another pre-prepared meal, this time a frozen “TV dinner” as they were called.  
  
Blakki didn’t mind, she actually found them quite tasty. With dinner consumed, the young resonator rose from the bed. “I’m gonna take a shower before your sister gets home.  
  
“Have fun.” He waved.  
  
The bathroom was right next to Shouri’s door, basically on an adjoining wall, so even in the middle of the night, it was an easy task to dart from the safety of the bedroom into the bathroom and back.  
  
The vixen stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. There were thick rings around her eyes. Even though she had slept on and off during the course of the day today, she still felt exhausted. “I need a good night’s sleep.” She breathed out at her doppelganger in the mirror.  
  
\---  
  
Blakki walked into Shouri's room, towel around her neck, just like the previous night. And just like the night prior, her hair was slightly damp. The main difference now, was the bottle of shampoo she held. The girl stared at the bottle which had a lovely little picture of an apple on it. “Thank you for buying this for me. You didn't have to.” The fox-girl said, looking from the bottle to Shouri, who was staring at his computer screen as usual.  
  
“I have to take care of you.” Came the matter-of-fact reply.  
  
The resonator frowned a bit as she walked over to a bookshelf and placed the bottle down on it. She ruffled her hair with the towel she had and threw it into a pile of dirty clothes that had accumulated in the corner of their (now) shared room. Turning back to Shouri, he was still engrossed with whatever was on his computer screen.   
  
Whenever they were home, he would stare at his computer screen ad nauseum. Occasionally the fox-girl would sneak a peek at the screen out of curiosity of what he was doing and would find he would be reading up on various different subjects. History and science mostly. Blakki frowned and walked up behind Shouri. She grabbed the back of his chair and spun the chair around, so her maestro was facing her.  
  
The young adult glared at the audacious girl who had the gall to interrupt his web browsing. “What’s the-” He stopped mid-sentence when he saw Blakki's expression. She had a coy smirk on her face. The kind of smirk one gives just before doing something indecent  
  
“Enough of that computer Sho.” She smirked, licking her lips, her fluffy black tail flicking behind her. Shouri gulped.  
  
Then in an instant the mood shifted 180° as her coy smirk changed to an innocent smile. “Let's play a board game.” She suggested.  
  
Poor Shouri barely had time to recover from the near seductive look Blakki had given. Did she mean to look at him that way? “A-alright.” He rose from his chair, but turned away, placing a hand on his chest. _”Why is my heart beating so fast?”_ He thought to himself, he quickly shook off the feeling and decided on a game.  
  
Despite what Blakki had observed in the past few days of living in the Tomoshibi household, there were quite a few boardgames within the residence. The pair took their time and played a fair share of them before Aura returned home at nearly midnight. After quietly putting away the games the duo returned to their usual positions; Shouri on his computer and Blakki laying on the bed, door locked. “That was fun.” Blakki giggled, sprawled out on the bed.  
  
“Mhm.” Shouri agreed, in his own, gruff, anti-social way.  
  
Another hour or so passed, Blakki was drifting in and out of consciousness, when suddenly was awoken by a sudden loud and annoying beeping sound. Her ears and tail were pointed straight up as it had startled her out of her light sleep  
  
“What’s happening Sho?” The resonator sat up groggily, rubbing her eyes. It seemed the poor vixen would be barred from getting that restful nights sleep she desperately wanted for a while longer.   
  
“Dunno, thing started going haywire like a couple of seconds ago.” The boy tried to hush the device, but it continued to beep.  
  
Blakki stood up on her knees and looked at the screen. It was displaying some kind of pointer that moved with the device. “It’s pointing at something.” She looked to her maestro. “It didn’t beep with the Scher-things.” She noted.  
  
The maestro nodded in agreement. “Dumb sage should have given me a manual for this thing.” He grumbled. “Feeling anything?”  
  
The resonator frowned, sitting back on her legs. Her tail swished slowly behind her as she focused on that horrible crushing feeling she had grown to dread.  
  
“Kinda?” She tilted her head back and forth, looking to the bed under her. There was a dull fear that wasn’t nearly intense as the last two she had felt.  
  
“Hm.” The green-eyed adult pondered their options. He clipped the tuner to the waistband of his pants. “Guess we should do something about this?”  
  
With a groan of protest, Blakki looked up at her partner. “Do we really have a choice Sho?”  
  
“Not if I intend on sleeping tonight.” He laughed back.  
  
\-----

  
Getting out of the apartment was a bit technical. Aura was sitting on the couch watching TV, trying to wind down before bed. As much as Shouri wanted to just tell his sister to go away for a little while, that would raise a lot of unwanted attention. Eventually a plan was devised, where Shouri asked for something he knew was in Aura’s room and while she wandered off to retrieve it, Blakki scrambled out of the room and then the front door.  
  
Minutes later Shouri joined his partner and the pair ran off under the guise of “going on a midnight stroll”  
  
Their new compass in the form of the Tuner guided them down to the business district. There were a few people around, but not too many given the time of night.  
  
Blakki took a few deep breaths as they closed in on their goal. Her maestro took notice of this. “Hey, you okay?”  
  
She nodded. “Yeah, just trying to dismiss that Scherzando feeling.” The girl admitted. Before their exchange could go any further, a light caught their eyes. They both turned to see a wisp of fire dissipating into the night air. The source seemed to be in a nearby darkened alleyway. She noticed Shouri had visibly trembled at the wisp of fire.  
  
Rushing over the tuner pointed to another pair. Blakki was focused on a third figure in the alleyway.  
  
“Vinci, Corrente Elettrica, Pianissimo!” A female maestro shouted. She had curly red hair tied up in a ponytail. From their position, Shouri and Blakki could see glasses frames. She wore a white collared shirt and blue denim overalls and well-worn black tennis shoes.  
  
The resonator that was standing in front of this mystery girl was a male, he wore a brown beret over brown hair that had splashes of black in it and white streaks in the bangs. He had floppy canine ears like a beagle and a long, thin tail that poked out from behind him, it had a mixture of black and brown with a white tip. He wore a dark brown sleeveless vest over a white long-sleeved shirt and white pants with brown shoes.  
  
Their opponent was a stoat shaped Scherzando, except this one was much larger than the normally tiny short-tailed weasels that one would see on nature documentaries. It had to be at least three feet tall and seemed like it had some armor made of rocks and earth covering its body.  
  
With a spin and a throw of his hands, the resonator threw some minor lightning at the creature in question. It didn’t even notice the attack and retaliated by firing a large stone at the resonator, who took the attack in the gut. The Scherzando roared and a wind began to kick up, particles of sand were picked up easier than normal.  
  
“Oh no!” The girl fell to her knees and reached out for her fallen resonator. “Vinci!” She cried out.  
  
Then a voice from behind her drew her attention.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Pianissimo.”  
  
She turned to see a fox-eared girl and her maestro standing at the opening of the alleyway, a slight glow coming from both of their eyes as the rhythm was passed from maestro to resonator. A small ball of purplish energy formed in the fox-girl’s hand and she lobbed it at the enemy, hitting her mark. The opposing creature stumbled back, interrupted from summoning what seemed to be a sandstorm. Before it realized what was happening, the male maestro spoke again.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Piano!”  
  
A larger ball of purple energy was thrown, once again on target and hitting the head of the earth Scherzando. It flipped onto its back from the force of the second hit.  
  
The girl who had been defeated by the Scherzando watched the same creature that threatened her just a moment ago fade away like it was nothing.  
  
“Mi faccia dare un'occhiata.”  
  
Looking over she saw the fox-eared girl kneeling next to her, looking to the fallen resonator whose head was on her lap.  
  
Sensing the other girl’s intentions, she removed her hands from the unconscious boy.  
  
“La Bella Vita Tutti, Allegro.” The other maestro spoke again, he had moved closer into the alleyway. Looking back to the beaten resonator, he slowly opened his eyes as a wave of light washed over him. The pain in his gut vanishing as if he had never been struck. Suddenly he realized where he was.  
  
He rose up on his knees, looking around bewildered. “Where? Sonia?!” His maestro seemed to be fine. Her brown eyes stared back as she fought to hold back her tears from joy. Then there was another presence. A boy and a girl.  
  
“They saved us Vinci.” Sonia told her resonator. He gritted his teeth in frustration, but minded his manners anyways.  
  
“Th-thanks.” He muttered, tilting his beret forward a bit.  
  
“Are you both okay?” Shouri asked. Blakki rose to her feet and stood next to her maestro. He seemed to be just as tired as last night with less spells cast. Though she felt a lot more power in the second Luce Lunare and La Bella Vita. She didn’t really notice the names of the spells when they were cast. Her body was compelled to use the rhythm it was given in the way Shouri had commanded her to use it. It was a strange process, but she didn’t hate it since it enabled her to protect him.  
  
“Yes, we’re fine thanks to you.” Sonia nodded, getting to her feet. “Right Vinci?” She asked her own partner.  
  
“Peachy.” He folded his arms across his chest and glanced away.  
  
Shouri and Blakki decided to ignore that and focus their conversation with Sonia. “Who are you two?” Sonia asked.  
  
“Shouri.”  
“Blakki, his resonator.”  
  
“I’m Sonia, and this is Vinci.”  
  
“Where do you guys live? We'll go with you. It's probably safer in a group.” Shouri suggested, deciding that hanging out in a super dark alleyway at almost one in the morning was a good way to invite all the wrong attention. That and he wanted more information that hopefully this new maestro could provide him. He noticed that the tuner had stopped beeping wildly when they had gotten closer. Something to keep in mind for later.  
  
The girl laughed nervously. “It’s not too far from here. Thank you.” Sonia smiled, she quickly patted Vinci's back to get his attention.  
  
The four walked down the street to Sonia's house. “So Sonia, how long have you had Vinci?” Shouri asked. Blakki looked over. Truth be told, she was curious as well. This was the first pair like them that they actually had approached and spoken with. It was one thing to observe from a distance, but this would hopefully give her more insight on how she should be behaving with Shouri.  
  
“Uhh. It's been about... Four months?” Sonia looked to her resonator for confirmation. The boy nodded.  
  
“What’s your element and attribute Vinci?” Blakki decided to ask.  
  
“Null - Slashing.” The boy replied simply. He kept his vision trained down at the sidewalk directly in front of him, not looking to Blakki as he spoke.   
  
“Null?” The lunar-element frowned, tilting her head. Sahji hadn’t mentioned anything about Nulls.  
  
“Null elements are so cool!” Sonia jumped in front of the group, stopping them. “Like normally you only get spells of your element, but Nulls can use basic spells of any element!” The girl exclaimed excitedly. She seemed very enthusiastic about the topic at hand.  
  
“Aahaha.” Shouri and Blakki looked at each other, laughing nervously at the sudden enthusiasm.  
  
The fourth member of the group didn’t seem to share his partner’s enthusiasm. “Hmph, I'm not that great. I couldn't protect you on my own.” Vinci muttered. He walked ahead, with his hands in his pockets and looking down.  
  
Sonia frowned. “Vinci.” She bit her bottom lip, and held one arm with the other.  
  
“What’s wrong with him?” Shouri asked. Blakki knew exactly how Vinci felt. In all honesty that gave her a sense of relief. The fox-eared resonator had begun to dismiss her previous feelings about when they had lost against their first Scherzando. The feelings of utter uselessness.  
  
“We've lost a few battles recently.” Sonia admitted, casting her gaze towards the ground. “Have you met that girl who has the brown rabbit resonator?” She asked, looking up once more.  
  
Shouri folded his arms across his chest and looked across the street before speaking. “Sorta kinda.” There wasn’t a formal introduction, but they knew of each other at this point. “I’ve seen them around.” He clarified.  
  
With her shoulders catching slack, Sonia spoke: “We met her a few nights back, she said that we weren't worth saving. I think that got to Vinci.” The trio remained quiet for a moment.  
  
“I was hoping that we could beat that Scherzando today to get his spirit back up. But...” The girl trailed off glancing down the street where Vinci had walked down.  
  
“Oh, my bad.” Shouri replied quickly.  
  
She shook her head and looked to her saviors. “No, I'm glad you guys interrupted when you did. I don't know what would have happened if you didn't.” She smiled nervously. “Anyways. Thank you.” The other maestro pulled out a small piece of paper and a pen. She quickly scribbled something onto it. Sonia grabbed Shouri's hand and placed the small piece of paper into it and closed his hand around it. She let go of his hand and took a step back. “Let me know if something's up.” She then turned and started to run to catch up to Vinci. “Good night!” The girl shouted, waving back at the two.  
  
The remaining pair looked at each other, then to Shouri’s closed hand. He opened it up and looked at the paper that was left. “She gave me her phone number.” He noted staring at the small piece of paper in his hand. Those words made Blakki quite angry for reasons she did not understand.


	7. Chapter 7

Flames  
  
Burning, searing, blazing hot flames that licked away even the strongest of steel.  
  
What was this sensation? This odd fire. It promoted the fear of loss. The thieving flames that melted away everything that one had built. The fires the signaled the end of innocence. The flames that awaited the end of childhood.  
  
That’s what Blakki felt as she stared at these flames. The bright radiance that glowed from the fires was blinding, but also invited the darkness.  
  
It was the end.  
  
Possibly her own end?  
  
There was an odd familiarity to these flames.  
  
Yet, given all that. She felt detached from the fire that raged before her.  
  
Then she opened her eyes.  
  
With a start the fox-girl sat up in the closet. It was yet another morning, specifically the morning after meeting with Sonia. Blakki had awoken to a thick sweat coating her body. Just as quickly as that dream had started, it quickly faded from her mind, a trick of her unconscious? Or something else?  
  
There wasn’t time for that though. A more worldly, earthly desire hit.  
  
sniff sniff  
  
The desire to not smell bad. “Eugh… when did I wash these last?” She pondered that. Suddenly the poor girl was ill. She had no clue when her clothes had been cleaned.  
  
The closet door opened and the fox girl wandered over to the bed of her maestro who probably went to bed only an hour or two ago. She nudged the boy. “Sho.” A whisper.  
  
Shouri didn't move. With a frown, Blakki nudged him harder. “Shooo.” A bit more volume to this whisper. Shouri pulled his blanket up to cover himself more. The frown evolved into a full glare. “Sho! Svegliati!” With this bark, she kicked the bed in frustration.  
  
“Ah! What!?” Shouri jolted awake in shock. Gathering his bearings, he looked over to the fox-girl who was so desperate to awaken her maestro. “What is it Blakki?”  
  
“My clothes are dirty.” She stated simply.  
  
Silence  
  
Shouri stared at Blakki with a look of contempt on his face. He threw the blanket back over himself, turning his back. She fell to her knees next to the bed and began shaking the boy to stop him from falling asleep. “Sho! This is a serious problem!” The girl whined, distressed by her partner’s lack of concern.  
  
“It's 8am on a Saturday, this can wait!”  
“But Shoooo...”  
“God damn it fine!”  
  
\---  
  
The two stood in the laundry room. “Alright.” Blakki nodded. She wore a confident smirk, pumped up to be in the presence of the heavy machinery. She stared at the washer and dryer, eying the two metal beasts before her.  
  
“Well?” Shouri yawned.  
  
The smile faded from the girl’s face. She turned to her maestro and pouted at him. “What do I do?” He stared back blankly. He sighed loudly, placing his hand on his face.  
  
“You take off your clothes and put them in the washer with a little bit of detergent. Then when it finishes, you put them in the dryer.” He wasn’t mad, but annoyed was too light of a word to use to describe the boy’s current emotional state.  
  
Immediately the girl blushed. “T-take them off?” Blakki looked down at herself. “B-b-but I don't have any other clothes.” She whimpered. “I'll be naked...” She whispered as if just saying the words aloud would bring them into law. Shouri blinked slowly, continuing to be irritated with the whole situation.  
  
“I don't even have words.”  
  
And so, after much fenagling, Blakki sat on the floor, wearing a pair of Shouri's pants and one of his spare white shirts. She fidgeted uncomfortably, her face still a lovely shade of red. “My tail.” The fox-girl whimpered, trying to keep the pants where it wouldn't reveal anything personal, but at the same time not bending her tail in a way it wasn't supposed to be bent. “Sho..!” Blakki whined loudly.  
  
“I. AM. SLEEPING!” Shouri chucked a pillow at the continuously whining vixen.  
  
The projectile hit its intended target head on. “Oof!” Blakki fell backwards. She laid there with the pillow on her face. “Sho è così cattivo...” The resonator whined through a mouth full of pillow.  
  
Removing the pillow from her face, she laid her head on it. ”These clothes smell good though.” Blakki quietly thought aloud. She pondered that thought for a moment, before her face rapidly reddened once more. “Wh-what am I-?” The girl looked down at the clothes once more. “These are Sho's, so do I think-?” She was fighting a losing battle against her emotions and her self-induced embarrassment of the situation.   
  
Blakki sat up quickly, pulling her hair in distress. She plopped back down on the ground, resting her head on the pillow Shouri had thrown at her moments before. “I don’t know what to do. What would even happen if I was honest with myself? Non so come, ma…”  
  
\---  
  
Flames that burned away everything. This time rather than a formless void, she could make out some features. A bedroom? It wasn’t one she recognized. She only had one frame of reference and this wasn’t it.  
  
The orange glow of a serious fire surrounded the young girl. She was alone in this room. But she didn’t feel alone. She felt like there should have been someone there. Someone that she’d rush out of the room with.  
  
Beyond that door was the end. In her gut, Blakki knew this. By existing in this room, she’d never have to face what was beyond that door. What fate awaited her past the wooden door that would burn away of its own accord given enough time.  
  
Despite knowing what awaited further ahead, the girl steadfastly refused to move. Her heart wasn’t ready to face what laid beyond the door in question. The fire grew, it consumed all around her, swirling until…  
  
Shouri's ceiling; Blakki had thought about putting a poster or something on it with the number of times she seemed to have been staring up at it. “What the-” She sat up, looking around she was on the ground still from earlier. What was with the recent fire-themed dreams?  
  
Looking around, some time had passed, probably mid-morning now. “My clothes, I need to move them to the dryer.” Blakki realized she could probably move to phase two of the cleaning process. The fox-girl rushed out of the room, without thinking much of it.  
  
She stood in front of the dryer, having just set it to dry for sixty minutes, just as Shouri had instructed her before. “There we go.” Blakki clapped, smiling to herself.  
  
“Shouri? What are you doing?” A female voice asked. Blakki froze, her heart pounded as hard as it could. A cold sweat ran down her body as her breathing intensified. This was the worst possible situation. What would even happen now? “Shouri... I called out sick today. I don't feel good...” The older woman moaned. Blakki turned around slowly. She saw Aura standing there, barely keeping herself standing. The blonde-haired woman was only managing to herself up right by utilizing the nearby door handle  
  
The woman’s face was flushed, tears rolled down her cheeks, eyes half open, hair an absolute mess. “Shouri help me get to bed.” Aura nearly begged.  
  
“O-okay…” The younger girl said as quietly as she could. Trembling, Blakki walked up to the older girl, who immediately leaned on her. The fox-girl awkwardly led her maestro’s sister to her bed and laid her down. “S-stay here and sleep… You need it...” The terrified girl squeaked.  
  
“Thank you Shouri...you're the best...” Aura was asleep not a second later.  
  
Blakki herself stumbled out of that room, through the living room and back into Shouri's room. She closed the door behind her and pressed her back against it. “...Sho...” Blakki whimpered, on the verge of tears. Shouri laid in bed, ignoring her. “Sho!” She barked when she didn't get a response.  
  
“Huh?! What?!” Shouri flipped into a sitting position. He saw Blakki was holding her hand on her chest, the fur on her tail was puffed out, her ears were standing up, she was covered in a deep sweat, and her eyes were open wide, tears had broken through their dam and streamed down her face.  
  
The maestro rushed out of bed as soon as he saw the state his resonator was in. “What happened?” He asked  
  
“Y-Your sister... She found me.” Blakki shook violently as she admitted this.  
  
“What?!” Shouri grabbed the girl’s shoulders to steady her. “What happened?! Where is Aura?!” He yelped.  
  
“In her room sleeping.” The girl’s knees gave out at this point and she began to slide to the ground. Shouri helped ease her off her feet. “She somehow mistook me for you.” Despite being safely on the ground though, she continued to shake.  
  
Shouri calmed himself a bit, but raised an eyebrow. “H-how?”  
  
She looked up at him, tears still freely flowing down her face. “She said she was sick. She kept calling me Shouri.”  
  
His tension eased, along with his breath. Aura must have been totally out of it probably because of some over the counter drugs or something. Hopefully she wouldn’t remember anything. Turning his attention to his current problem, he decided to pat his resonator’s head reassuringly. “It’ll be okay, let me go check on my whacked-out sister.” The maestro stood up straight.

Blakki crawled out of the way and watched Shouri leave the room. “Ritornate presto...”  
  
\-----  
  
Returning to the room a few minutes later, he immediately noticed that Blakki was missing. Shouri frowned, he had simply peeked into Aura's room and found his sister fast asleep. He wasn’t gone that long. “Alright, she's fine.” He announced to the room. Before anything else, he took care to lock the door behind him. He turned back to face the rest of his room, taking inventory, he noticed one major change: a lump on the bed, trembling under the blanket.  
  
Shouri rolled his eyes. “Come on, you're fine.” He walked over to the bed, stopping just before it and folding his arms across his chest. The lump under the blanket just continued to tremble. He knelt on the bed and nudged Blakki. “Hey-” Blakki flipped up the blanket and grabbed Shouri, wrapping her arms around him in one fluid motion. She pulled him down with her, squeezing him tightly, and burying her head in his chest. “Blakki! What are you doing?!” The maestro shouted, struggling against his resonator’s embrace.  
  
“I'm scared Shouri! That freaked me out!” Blakki cried out. “Just, please hold me for a little bit. Until I can calm down.” She sniffled, looking up at him pleadingly.  
  
The ensnared maestro just laid there, glaring at the girl in disbelief. Staring at her pleading expression caused something to click within him. His expression lightened. “A-alright...” He whispered uneasily. Slowly, he brought his arms around her, stopping just before he completed the hug. He finally decided to finish the embrace and hold her. She was trembling a bit. “It's okay.” Shouri whispered gently. He stroked her hair gently. “I'm...here.” He added, hesitating slightly.  
  
Blakki sniffled a bit, as she slowly calmed down. She pushed herself away from Shouri. “Mi dispiace…” She muttered. The girl slumped off of the bed, and quickly retreated into the closet. The fox-girl shut the door and laid on the floor staring at the wall. Her face was completely red. Did she really just do all of that?  
  
 _“Please hold me”_ rang in Blakki's head, like some kind of cruel cosmic joke. Why did she say that? Why did she DO all of that? She WAS scared. She just wanted to be consoled and told everything would be okay. She got what she wanted; awkwardly, but it was what she had asked for. The girl beat herself up mentally over her rash decisions. She wasn't sure how she felt about Shouri. She didn't want to tell him what she thought, because of what she was.  
  
What did Shouri feel though? He actually did what she wanted. Sure, she forced him down into a laying position. But he did actually hug her. Additionally, he also stroked her hair and consoled her. Blakki quietly giggled to herself, blushed and smiled thinking about him stroking her head again. She sat up and shook her head. Creeping over to the closet door, she peered through the cracks that afforded her a look into the larger room. Shouri was laying on the bed, back facing the closet door. Blakki sat back on her legs.  
  
Worry crept up onto her face as she held her hands over her mouth. “I hope I didn't make him mad.” She fretted quietly. Blakki backed up until her back hit the wall. “Sho..” She closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to face a reality where she just forced the only person she knew away. “I'm sorry.” The girl apologized to the darkness of the closet.  
  
\-----  
  
Shouri rolled over, it was dark in his room. “I must have fell asleep.” He laid there for a moment. The events of the afternoon prior played in his mind. She hugged him, she demanded he do the same back. She was very attached to him now, not like when they first met. Blakki got freaked out about getting caught by his delirious sister, she didn't react like that a week ago after she had been shot at.  
  
How did she feel about him? He was curious. Shouri wasn't the type to just come out and ask about that kind of thing though. He was always more of a sit back and analyze the situation as it came. The best course of action would come to him eventually he decided. Back to the present, where was Blakki? She had pushed him away and got off the bed. “Damn emotions.” Shouri thought bitterly about how he had felt after Blakki's little “episode”  
  
He couldn't bring himself to accept the way he felt. He couldn't betray his emotions.  
  
But at the same time...  
  
He didn't want to fail someone again...  
  
Would it be okay...?  
  
Even though...  
  
Enough of that. He had a (probably) hungry fox-girl to take care of. And with that he was up. Did she leave? Of course not. The closet. Blakki's “safe haven”. He swung his feet off of his bed and made his way over to the closet. Showing some manners, he knocked on the door. “Hey.” He called out to the sole inhabitant of the closet.  
  
“nuhhh...Sho?” He could hear her shift around in the closet.  
  
“Are you okay?” Shouri inquired. The door opened a moment later.  
  
“I'm sorry Sho.” The girl looked down, as if she was being punished for doing something bad. He rolled his eyes. She really was the most dramatic little thing. He knelt down and reached out, he placing his hand under Blakki's chin and pushed her head up. She just stared.  
  
“Smile.” Shouri smiled.  
  
Instantly, her face was completely red. She pushed him away.  
  
SLAM  
  
“I'M SORRY!” Blakki shouted. Her back was pressed against the back of the closet. Her hands were covering her face. Shouri rolled his eyes.  
  
“It was just a suggestion.” He looked off to the side, a bit of red creeping onto his face.


	8. Chapter 8

_“Hey…”  
“Yeah, it’s what you think.”  
“We’re out of here!”  
“Quick take this!”  
“Cover your mouth and stay low!”  
“Leave me! Go!”  
  
_Blakki opened her eyes. What was that? This time her dream was just sound. No visuals, just voices and emotion. Regret. That was the main thing she felt. But what was with that? Were those her own memories? Those voices and the flames that had recently become a recurring theme within her unconscious mind were so vivid it was almost real.  
  
The door to the room opened and closed. Closing her eyes, Blakki’s ears stood straight up as she listened for the heartbeat of the entrant to the room. “Sho?” She asked.  
  
“You’re up?” He asked from the other side of the door.  
  
Sliding the door to the side, the girl crawled out of the closet to greet her maestro for the morning. “Where did you go?” She asked, hoping this inquiry would go better than the last time she asked.  
  
“Had to get stupid to call out of work again. She was trying to hobble out of the house with her shirt inside out.” Shouri huffed as he took a seat in his computer chair.  
  
Blakki sat on the ground in front of him. “Aren’t you worried about getting sick?”  
  
“Nah, I got my flu shot this year. She didn’t, so she gets to suffer.” He replied simply. “I wonder if you can even catch human borne illnesses.” The maestro looked his fox-girl up and down. “You look human enough. Though I wonder what kind of differences there are inside you.” The wanna-be scholar pondered aloud.  
  
The girl’s ears wilted as she looked down. Shouri realized he messed up. “H-hey! I-I just…” He looked down. The boy remained quiet for a minute, trying to unbury himself from this situation he had put himself in. “If something terrible happened to you I wouldn’t know what to do.” The young adult admitted shakily. “It’s not like I can take you to a hospital.”  
  
She continued to stare at the ground in front of her.  
  
“Ah…” Shouri adverted his gaze. “Sorry.” He muttered. “Maybe this would have been easier if it was like one of those anime where a normal guy like me wakes up in a magical world like yours. At least there would be a lot of things we wouldn’t have to worry about.” He laughed hollowly.  
  
Silence returned to the room once again. Shouri slouched slightly, keeping his vision away from the fox-girl in front of him. “I’m really bad at this.”  
  
“It’s not your fault.”  
  
His gaze drifted up at the fox girl who hung her head before him. “I did this to you. I don’t deserve this care from you.”  
  
“Why do you think that?”  
  
She looked up at him. “What have I done to earn it?”  
  
“Why should I abandon you? You didn’t do anything wrong.” He countered. “I’m sorry I’m on my computer all the time-”  
  
“Sho.” She cut him off. “I interrupted YOUR life. I don’t expect anything from you. I just expect to wake up one day and this dream to end.” The girl smiled bittersweetly.  
  
Silence again as they stared each other down. Neither wanted to give up their platform on who was worse in this situation.  
  
The boy rose from his chair, he began to pocket his usual every day carries. Then he tossed Blakki her hat. “Eh?” She blinked, staring at her hat. The next moment, the maestro had grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. She was being dragged towards the door. “W-wait, what are we doing?”  
  
“Going out.” He said simply as they breached the boundary of the door and entered the livingroom. The girl hastily put on her hat as they neared the front door.  
  
“Out?”  
  
“If this is just a dream for you, we might as well go see what we can before it ends, right?” He looked back with a smile.  
  
The girl blushed hard. That was smooth, almost criminally so for Shouri. She just accepted that they were going out today and left it at that.  
  
\---  
  
Blakki sat at a table at the local mall, she sipped a cold fruit drink. Across from her was Shouri, who was browsing the web on his phone. Propping her head up with her hands, the resonator giggled.  
  
“Hm?” Shouri looked up from what he was doing.  
  
“Just thinkin’.” She smiled. People passed all around them as was normal for Sunday afternoons at the mall, but at this moment in time, Blakki felt she was the only one here with Shouri.  
  
“About what?”  
“Just this morning.”  
“What about it?”  
“How we were both so dead-set on shouldering the blame I guess.”  
“Waxing poetic more like.”  
  
Another giggle from the hidden fox-girl.  
  
“We’re just silly.”  
“Hmph.”  
  
Shouri looked back to his phone. “Do you feel better?” He asked.  
  
“Loads.”  
“I’ll take you out more. I could use the exercise.” He paused. “Especially if our late night Scherzando hunting becomes the norm.”  
  
Blakki’s smile slowly faded. The Scherzando were scary when they were far away. The overwhelming, crushing feeling was horrible. It drove her to move towards it to get rid of it. But, when Shouri began issuing out commands, the fear and unease faded away and she felt confident. It was the only thing she had in that regard.  
  
“Shall we get going?” He asked.  
  
The girl quickly finished her drink, then nodded. “Mhm!”  
  
\---  
  
Later that evening, Shouri walked back into the bedroom that the duo shared.  
  
“Aura’s going to work tomorrow.” He noted. Blakki laid on the bed with Shouri’s phone, holding it above her as she scrolled through the vast depths of information stored in the world’s networked computers.  
  
“Anything good?”  
  
Thwack!  
  
And then the phone fell right on her face. “Ow!” The girl yelped.  
  
“God, I love modern technology.” Shouri shook his head as Blakki removed the electronics from her face.  
  
She sat up, setting the phone next to her on the bed. “I was just reading some news, but it’s really confusing when you don’t know what any of these names or places are.” The girl pouted.  
  
The brown-haired boy took his place at his computer desk. “Surprised you went after the news, that shit’s depressing. Then again, I suppose most of it is pretty similar in your world too. Blood sells after all.” He exhaled.  
  
“Eh?” Blakki blinked. She wasn’t familiar with that phrase.  
  
Shouri glanced over and noted his companion’s confusion. He looked back at his computer screen. “At some point, someone in media will always realize that people tune into the news or subscribe to it more when there is suffering to report on. It makes the viewer think “Oh that’s terrible, I’m glad that’s not me.”” He explained. “Usually the bloodier the better.”  
  
Blakki looked down. “That’s awful.”  
  
“I’m sure they do that in your world too.” Shouri looked to the tuner sitting on his desk. The red control button stood out amongst the black plastics.   
  
_“Let’s just say it’s a cultural difference between our worlds”  
_  
Those words Sahji spoke the day he got their tuner made him wonder. What WAS Blakki’s world like? The poor girl always looked like she was waiting to be struck. She had definitely mellowed out a bit since she started living with him, but there was a nagging voice in the back of his head.  
  
Something that said this isn’t right. There’s something horribly wrong with that other world.  
  
Something terrible.  
  
His eyes drifted over to that button again. A dark, sinister corner of Shouri’s mind wanted to try it. Just once.  
  
The ability to command an intelligent creature into absolute perfect obedience.  
  
And every time that horrible, dark thought came to his mind, a wave of guilt rushed over him. It made him consider breaking the device.  
  
But then they’d have no way to fight off the Scherzando when they showed up. So he was stuck with this device that essentially chained Blakki to him with no way out. What would they even do in the long run? Would the rest of his life be devoted to fighting these things that showed up every so often?  
  
Or would the dream end like Blakki said…?  
  
“Sho?”  
  
He looked over at the girl who sat on his bed.  
  
The resonator wore an innocent smile on her face as she stared at her maestro expectantly. “I’m hungry, when’s dinner?” She asked sheepishly.  
  
For now he’d take his own advice and enjoy the dream while it lasted.  
  
\---  
  
“Sho…”  
“Sho…”  
  
Groggily, the boy opened his eyes, awoken from one dream right into another. It was dark in his bedroom. Blakki stood over his bed, bent slightly over. From the glow of the moonlight cast through the window, he could make out a concerned expression on the girl’s face.  
  
“Right now?” Shouri asked, knowing very well what she was about to tell him. She nodded quickly. “God damn it.” The boy cursed, sitting up. He reached out and grabbed the tuner from his desk. “Fuck, I went to bed like two hours ago.”  
  
The girl fidgeted nervously. “S-sorry Sho…” She whimpered.  
  
“It’s not your fault. Whatever this thing is has to pay for disrupting my shitty sleep schedule.” He groaned getting to his feet.  
  
The two ran down the dark city streets. A slight fog had crept in the forest bordered town. It was cool outside to boot. Thankfully the pair sported longer clothes as their preferred attire, so it wasn’t a real bother to them. The reduced visibility was a blessing and curse.  
  
Shouri noticed the direction they were heading in and grew the slightest bit paranoid about their final destination. They came to a stop on the road just before the woods that surrounded the forest. “It's just a bit further.” Blakki whispered to Shouri pointing ahead to the edge of the very forest where they had met. The significance of this location was not lost on the pair. They had the same thought: The building that Blakki woke up in, and the organization that had tried to kill her.  
  
Across the street standing just before the trees was their target: a Scherzando. This one however wasn’t a normal animal with elements like they had been used to. This was a large cat bodied creature lacking any facial features. It wore golden Egyptian head-dressings and had wings of radiant white light.  
  
“Wh-what the heck is that?!” Blakki yelped, pointing at the creature.  
  
“Is that a fucking sphinx?! That god damn sage has some explaining to do!” Shouri barked, ripping the tuner from the waistband of his pants to fight this thing. “Luce Lunare Pianissimo!” The maestro ordered his first command.  
  
Blakki nodded and threw a blob of shadowy energy at the opposing Scherzando. It responded with a blob of light that collided with the lunar spell. The two spells just vanished into nothing.  
  
“What the hell?” Shouri gasped. “That’s cheating!” He barked. “Let’s try this: Nuvola Oscura, Presto!”  
  
The fox-girl didn’t recognize that spell, but focused on the words regardless. Her hands moved on their own as black smoke began to follow the movements of her digits.  
  
“I can see through the smoke…?” Both of them muttered, noticing they were unimpeded by the thick black smoke that hovered in the air and mixed with the fog. The Sphinx looked around, not being afforded such luxury.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Pianissimo!” A shout came from the black smoke. The creature took a blow to the face from a ball of lunar energy. “Luce Lunare, Pianissimo!” Another ball of energy hit the creature. It expanded its wings and with two great beats of its light wings, it blew away not only the smoke, but the fog that was nearby.  
  
The Scherzando fired a ball of light at the ground, which exploded into a blinding light. “Augh!” Neither Shouri nor Blakki had expected that and was instantly rendered visionless by the intense light. The fox-eared girl switched to relying on her hearing to keep a tab on her opponent.  
  
It was moving? Its footsteps passed her. Wait. It passed her. Why did it pass her?  
  
“SHO!”  
  
Shouri’s vision came back just as the sphinx scherzando was charging a ball of light in front of its head. “SHO!” Blakki cried out.  
  
Another bright light, Shouri closed his eyes, expecting the worst. It never came though. Opening his eyes, Blakki stood in front of him, arms out.  
  
“Haaa… ha….” The girl panted, falling to her knees. “I… won’t let you touch him…” She glared at the beast that towered over them. Rather than any energy-based attack as they expected, the sphinx lifted a paw back. Blakki brought her arms in front of her. This was the correct move as they bore the brunt of the super-natural strength this creature possessed as it did the large cat equivalent of flicking. The resonator flew back into her maestro, throwing the pair off their feet.  
  
The pair slammed onto the ground. “Ow...” They both moaned laying on their sides next to each other. The creature approached and stood over them menacingly. If it had a face, this creature would have had the expression of a hungry predator about to tear into its prize. The defeated pair closed their eyes, awaiting the end.  
  
It never came though.  
  
“2572? With a maestro?” A new voice. A male voice. An adult probably in their thirties or forties. The sphinx was completely motionless. And then it suddenly began to lose its form, being pulled towards a presently unseen event horizon. In the place of the sphinx, a cube of white energy. It hovered in the air as it finished its task. Gravity took over when there was no further energy left to absorb. The cube harmlessly clattered to the ground.  
  
A man walked up, he was wearing a black suit and tie. He was wearing black sunglasses, even though it was the dead of night. He had short brown hair which was a bit messy. There was some kind of gauntlet on his left arm. There were curved parts that came off of a bar he was holding, and there was an LCD screen that attached to it which sat on his forearm.  
  
Blakki and Shouri just stared at the man. They were both scared out of their minds, the creature that they were almost the prey item of was killed or something by this new voice? The maestro did the only thing he could think of and grabbed his dear worn-out resonator and held her tightly as the man stood over them, observing their beaten forms.   
  
“I hope you realize what a dangerous hobby this is.” The man said, picking up the cube that the Scherzando vanished into. “This isn’t a game. This is war.” The man spoke with all the ire of an underpaid government employee. He stared at the cube in his hand, before pocketing it like he picked up a coin from the ground. Shouri and Blakki remained silent, transfixed by what they just saw. The man placed his left foot on the two fallen adults. He leaned in close so they could hear him. “Don't interfere, if you want to live.” The man whispered. He lifted his foot as if he had stepped in something foul before just simply walking away.  
  
Shouri and Blakki laid there in the middle of the street, shell-shocked not only from their complete and utter defeat, but by this new terrifying player in what they thought was a simple affair.


	9. Chapter 9

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
Sonia opened her eyes groggily. Someone was at the door? It was 3AM according to her bed-side clock. The girl slowly got up, rubbing her eyes as she slipped on her pink slippers; which matched her lovely pink pajamas with brown paw prints. She peeked out the window of her room. (Her room was situated above the front door). Her eyes widened upon catching sight of Shouri, barely holding a limp Blakki up. “Oh my god, Shouri!” Sonia took a step back. She turned to see her own resonator sleeping in a small cot next to her own bed. “Vinci! Get up!” Sonia screeched, darting out of the room.  
  
The beagle-eared boy sat up, very confused as to what was going on. Vinci rolled out of bed and put on his hat before slowly shuffling down the stairs. He shielded his eyes, as Sonia had turned on the lights downstairs just as he had arrived. “Vinci! Come help me with this!” He could hear his maestro shouting from downstairs. By the time he had made his way down the steps. Sonia had already managed to get Shouri and Blakki into their home.  
  
Sonia had sat the beaten pair on a couple of chairs, Blakki was totally unconscious; Shouri not faring much better. There were bits of singeing on their clothes. There was a light coating of dirt on the pair which mixed with the sweat that coated their forms. “What the heck happened?” The female maestro asked.  
  
“We lost… I failed her...” Shouri muttered in half-delirium. “...just another person I let down...” He closed his eyes and slumped forward.  
  
“Ah! Shouri! Stay with me! Shouri!” Sonia shouted, pushing the boy back up.  
  
\---  
  
Flames, the crackling and splintering of wood. The crashing of a collapsing infrastructure. The end of someone’s hard work. The blood, sweat, and tears; the time poured into possession.  
  
All taken away in a matter of minutes.  
  
“Yes Aura, I went for a walk. Is that a crime?”  
“I’m a grown ass adult. I can leave. Do you want that?”  
“That's what I thought.”  
“...yes, I do love you. Stop suffocating me”  
“Just shut up.”  
  
Blakki heard a sudden clattering sound. It seemed that Shouri had thrown his phone in anger. The fox-girl kept her eyes closed to assess the situation. She was on a bed. She could feel from the way the bed curved and from where Shouri's voice was that he was sitting on the side of the bed she had awoken on.  
  
The resonator felt her maestro’s hand touch her head and then he began to gently stroke her hair. The girl couldn't help but blush slightly. “How are you feeling?” Shouri asked. The fox-girl cursed her lack of self-control and opened her eyes.  
  
She sat up and looked to her maestro. “I'm fine.” Upon closer inspection, the lunar resonator quickly noticed they weren't in Shouri's room. “Wh-where are we?” Blakki asked in a panic at the unfamiliar surroundings.  
  
“Sonia's house. The girl we met the other day?” Shouri replied.  
  
Almost immediately Blakki’s thought nothing but irritation towards the other girl who had interacted with her maestro. “Oh yeah.” She nodded, actually succeeding in hiding her true feelings.  
  
“After our little episode last night, you passed out.” Shouri started. Her thoughts changed to disappointment in herself and how lame she felt about passing out. “I carried you about a mile or so, but I started feeling fatigued.” He continued the story. The mental self-beratement continued in Blakki’s head with each passing word.  
  
Completely oblivious to his partner’s subtle changes in her mood, the boy continued. “I remembered that Sonia lived near here. So, I just walked up and knocked on the door.” He paused for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. “In hindsight, I probably could have called her.” He shrugged. “Hindsight is twenty-twenty you know”  
  
The girl, on the other hand, was practically screaming at herself, admonishing her own inability to stay conscious in a critical situation. “V-vedo...” She muttered, looking down. “Mi dispiace Sho.” Blakki apologized, maintaining a downcast expression.  
  
“For what?”  
“I failed you, I should have protected you better than I did.”  
  
At this point the tears began to drop from her face onto the bed underneath her. Shouri pushed Blakki's head up by her chin. “You dove in front of that thing's attack to protect me.” Shouri presented his own rueful smile. He drew his hand away. Blakki just stared back with her tear-soaked face “I failed you.” He admitted adverting his gaze.  
  
Blakki bit her bottom lip. Why was HE apologizing? “But I'm-” Shouri placed his hand on Blakki's mouth, stopping her rebuttal.  
  
“I'm your maestro, I failed you.” He glared at his resonator. Blakki took exception to this apology and acceptance of guilt, wearing a bitter expression on her face. She opened her mouth wide and bit the boy's hand.  
  
“OW!” The boy yelped, shaking out his hand. “What was-”  
  
Using that minor distraction, Blakki pinned Shouri down on the bed. She stared down at her maestro, narrowing her eyes. She lowered her face close to his. Her bright blue eyes stared directly into his emerald green eyes. “It. Is. My. Fault.” She whispered quietly to the boy.  
  
“I-I'm sorry!” They both heard a female voice yell suddenly. The two looked over to see Sonia covering her face with her hands and blushing. “L-lunch is ready whenever you're...done.” The interloper closed the door behind her.  
  
“Get off!” Shouri knocked Blakki off of him and to the ground.  
  
“Gahh.” Blakki merely covered her own face, realizing what that must have looked like to Sonia  
  
\---  
  
“A-are you sure this is safe?” Blakki asked, hiding under a table. Shouri and Vinci were sitting at the table in question. There were four plates of food, decorated rather artistically for a meal of chips and a sandwich. Sonia walked up to the table and bent down to look at Blakki.  
  
“Yes, it's safe. Vinci helps me all the time.” Sonia smiled. As it turned out, this “home” was actually a storefront. Upstairs were the bedrooms and home parts proper, while the bottom floor was a costume and apparel shop. Besides the kitchen which was converted into a breakroom of sorts that maintained its former functionality whilst being hidden from public view.  
  
This fact wasn’t lost on Blakki, knowing very well that they were now in the public eye. “B-but, we're in plain sight! Everyone can see us!” She hissed.  
  
“Blakki, we're running a costume shop, you blend in fine.” Sonia waved her hand dismissively.  
  
“B-b-but..”  
  
“You're drawing more attention hiding under the table than anything.” Shouri pointed out, slowly working on the pile of chips that was overtaking his plate.  
  
The fox-girl frowned. She was still uneasy about this situation, but if her maestro wasn’t concerned about it, she would trust his judgement. “...alright.” Blakki got out from under the table and took her place. Sonia, in the meantime had actually locked up for the lunchtime hour.  
  
The female maestro took her place in the remaining seat. “Alright, time for me to eat too.” Sonia smiled.  
  
“So what's your story?” Shouri asked, as they never really got properly acquainted. They were both maestros and they had helped each other one time each, but that was the extent of the knowledge they had of each other.  
  
Sonia was about to take a bite from her sandwich. She stopped and set it down. “Pardon?” The girl asked.  
  
“Do you run this shop alone?” The other maestro questioned. It wasn’t the biggest store in the world, but it wasn’t a tiny booth either. There was quite a bit of merchandise around.  
  
Sonia looked down, she seemed to be pained by that question. Vinci silently continued to eat his food, as if he was oblivious to the situation. The store owner looked up and smiled. “O-of course not, Vinci helps me.” She replied with a rather bubbly laugh.  
  
Shouri had taken note of her expression when he asked the question and decided not to pry. Blakki, however did not, lacking the tact and social awareness to catch this and opened her big mouth. “But what- Aahhhh...”  
  
She was stopped by Shouri grabbing her ear. “Excuse us; We're stepping out for a moment.” The maestro spoke up, standing from his seat.  
  
“Yeah...ahhh...” Blakki whimpered, having been pulled up to her feet and being forced to follow.  
  
“Alright, don't take too long.” Sonia smiled.  
  
Shouri led Blakki out behind the building where they would be alone. He released the girl's ear. “Wh-what was that for Sho..?” The fox girl huffed at being literally dragged out of the store.  
  
The maestro leaned against the brick wall that made up the back alleyway. He pulled at his phone and began to thumb through the forty or so text messages from his sister. “Saving us from an awkward conversation.”  
  
“What do you mean?” Blakki asked, leaning up against the opposite wall. She folded her arms across her chest and watched her maestro.  
  
He looked up at his resonator. “You didn't catch it?” A raised eyebrow accompanied this.  
  
The girl blinked, dropping her arms to her sides “Catch what?”  
  
The boy shook his head slightly before diverting his attention back down to his phone “Her parents aren't in the picture.” Shouri stated. “Haven’t been for some time.”  
  
The fox-girl stood up straight. “Wh-what?!” She stepped towards her maestro. “You mean she...lives all alone...?” Her gaze shifted towards the nearby door. Shouri remained quiet, keeping himself preoccupied by his phone. “But she always seems so happy.” Blakki muttered sadly.  
  
“We all have our ways of coping Blakki. Her approach is to hide the pain.” Shouri opened the door. “Just don't mention it again. It’s a sore subject for her” He muttered before walking back in.  
  
Blakki allowed the door to close. She looked up at the sky. “...Sho...Sonia.” She closed her eyes. She knew something similar happened to Shouri, she just didn’t know what. “I wonder if other maestros are like Shouri and Sonia?” Blakki muttered. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled. “Alright.” She turned and opened the door, following her maestro into the building.  
  
\---  
  
The day went on, Blakki and Shouri just watching Sonia and Vinci's daily routine. Dusk rolled around and Vinci locked up for the night. “Whew, we made a bit of money today.” Sonia smiled, opening the cash register and noting how much money was actually in there.  
  
“We also got a few custom orders as well.” Vinci stated, looking over several papers that customers had filled out over the course of the day.  
  
Sonia turned to her guests. “Soo...Are you guys staying for dinner?” The hostess asked with a smile.  
  
A mere shrug and a smirk from Shouri. “We have no choice really.” He stood up from the table he and Blakki had been sitting at for the majority of the day.  
  
That comment was interesting. “How so?” Sonia inquired.  
  
“I can't get Blakki in the house with my sister being home. My sister goes back to work and school tomorrow.” Shouri explained while he stretched his criminally under-used muscles.  
  
Sonia stopped what she was doing and lowered her head. “Y-you should be nicer to your sister.” The maestro spoke quietly.  
  
The boy’s expression fouled slightly as he tried to avoid glaring directly at his host. “She should respect my space.” Came the sharp reply.  
  
“Still you don't know what you have until it's gone.”  
“And some people need to stop bringing up the past. What's done is done.”  
  
The group remained quiet for several minutes. Shouri and Sonia both refusing to look at each other. The two resonators exchanged glances, then looked to their respective maestros.  
  
“You're right Shouri...They should…” Sonia's voice trembled. She bit her bottom lip. “E-excuse me.” She managed to get out before rushing away. The three that were left downstairs could hear Sonia going up the stairs, and then a door slamming.  
  
The remaining maestro shook his head, letting out a sigh. “...Sorry.” He said to Vinci as he walked out the back door into the alleyway.  
  
The two resonators stood alone in the shop, neither sure what they should do. Finally the host would break the ice. “So what do you know?” Vinci asked quietly.  
  
“Huh?” Blakki raised her head, having been lost in her own thoughts. “I dunno. I know something happened to Sho’s parents, but I haven’t worked up the courage to ask.”  
  
“What about you?” She countered.  
  
Vinci frowned. He mulled over how to explain their situation before speaking to it. “She hasn't told me. I don't think she's ready." The younger boy paused for a moment before continuing. "Like you, I kinda pieced together that they’re probably not of this world” Vinci stated. “And this shop is what she inherited.” He looked around the well-kept store as he spoke. “She stopped going to school to run this store; when I got here, she was on the verge of losing it.” He explained recalling his first real memories after waking up, not too dissimilar to Blakki’s situation.  
  
Blakki nodded, listening intently. Vinci walked past several mannequins, all in very elaborate outfits. “In the other world, I must have been a very good artist. Not just with painting or drawing, but all forms of art. It comes naturally to me. I can sew, craft, and make any part of a costume. While working here I’ve done a lot of work with Sonia in making clothes and costumes.” Vinci explained, admiring a coat that he had crafted himself.  
  
The dog-boy looked over at Blakki. “I guess my appearance helps draw customers too.” He smiled weakly. “When I started living here, Sonia kept me hidden upstairs. But she was having such a hard time working by herself, that I would sneak downstairs and help.” Vinci explained, stepping back into his own memories. “A customer caught me one day, but instead of freaking out, assumed I worked there and began asking for recommendations.” The boy recalled fondly. He walked up to the counter and rested his arms on it, eventually leaning most of his body weight on the counter.  
  
“The stores sales went up significantly since then. Sonia never pushes me too hard, because she's afraid I'll leave.” Vinci said, he looked up at Blakki.  
  
Blakki walked around the store, noting that each piece of clothing was labeled on if Vinci or Sonia made it. Cute hand drawn heads were drawn next to each name. “Are you afraid that she just using you?” The girl turned to the other resonator.  
  
He shook his head and smiled. “It's not that she wants a free ride or something. We’re equal partners in this venture.” The boy’s smile faded. He cast his gaze downward before speaking quietly. “To be totally honest, she doesn't believe in herself. I don't really understand why though.”  
  
The fox girl raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”  
  
Vinci looked around. He pushed himself up off the counter. “Let me show you something” He motioned for Blakki to follow him. They walked to the back of the store to the locked door that was tucked away in the corner. Vinci quietly unlocked the door labeled “Employees Only”. The resonator walked in and motioned for Blakki to follow. The fox-girl crept in to the dark room, taking care to be as quiet as possible. The lights suddenly came on.  
  
They were in a room full of half-finished outfits. There were several workbenches, tons of rolls of fabric and various tools practically littering the room. “Come on, it's in this room here.” Vinci stood in front of another door; he was flipping through the bundle of keys on the large keyring he had. The boy settled on an older looking key. He put it into the lock and turned it. He opened the door to reveal a smaller working space. In the center of this second room, there was a female mannequin, wearing a beautiful white dress. Very elaborate patterns were stitched into the fabric.  
  
The girl stared at the dress in awe. The mannequin was just about her height and from an initial glance, was about her proportions too. “E… e bellisimo…” Blakki breathed.  
  
“Sonia made this. By hand. Every stitch was meticulously and perfectly placed. I've tried to replicate it... but I can't..” Vinci admitted, looking over the work. “I’m very good at copying things I’ve seen. There’s always small imperfections, but it’s a useful trick for popular pieces that we have here. This dress though, I can’t even begin to try and replicate it, and I’ve tried.” He explained as Blakki walked around the dress, taking in every detail of the fabric.  
  
The dog-eared resonator shook his head in pity as he looked at the dress. “I don't know what happened to her, but it hurt her self-image very badly. I haven’t seen her try something of this caliber since I’ve known her” He told the girl.  
  
Deciding he had proven his point to his fellow resonator, he began to turn off the lights in the small room. “Come on.” Vinci motioned for Blakki to follow him out.  
  
Blakki followed, stealing a look one last time at the dress before Vinci turned off the lights and closed the door.  
  
\---  
  
The lunar resonator sat at the table, she had her head laying on her arms. The fox-girl’s ears stood up suddenly, she kept her head down though. She heard the back door open, as well as Sonia's door open upstairs. Sonia and Shouri came into the main room at roughly the same time.  
  
An awkward silence ensued. Blakki lifted her head and looked around. Vinci was in the corner, pencil in hand with a sketchbook on his lap. The two maestros just stared at each other. “I'm sorry, you two can stay the night.” Sonia looked down.  
  
Shouri looked a bit taken aback, not expecting that response. “You don't have to if-”  
  
The hostess shook her head. “I want to. It will be nice to have some company.” Sonia replied with her usual smile.  
  
The other maestro had only one further counter. “Where are we going to sleep then?” Blakki looked over at Sonia.  
  
“You guys can use my room again, me and Vinci...” She stopped what she was about to say. “We'll figure it out.” She breathed out. The room remained silent.  
  
“Anyways! Let me get dinner ready!” The female maestro shouted rather quickly. She darted out of the room. The remaining maestro sat down at the table next to his own resonator. “Well, this is awkward as hell…” Shouri muttered.  
  
“I'll tell you what I found out when we go to bed.” Blakki whispered to maestro.  
  
“Hm?” He raised an eyebrow. He had guessed that Blakki had talked to Vinci, he wondered what it was that she couldn’t just say it aloud right now.  
  
Dinner was had, Sonia kept the subject firmly on the resonators and what they've learned about the situation thus far. Shouri shared the information about the suited man and what he had done to the sphinx scherzando. Discussion persisted until the group was too tired to continue and they split off and retired.  
  
Blakki laid on Sonia's bed, arms and legs fully sprawled out. Despite this she didn’t even come close to reaching the edges of the bed. “Why is her bed so BIG?” She asked as she stared at the ceiling fan spinning away above her.  
  
Shouri sat on the edge of the bed, checking the latest news on his phone. Nothing good as usual. He put the device to sleep and set it on the night stand. Leaning back and looking towards his partner he spoke “So what were you going to tell me about Sonia?”  
  
“Oh yeah!” Blakki sat up. She explained what she had discussed with Vinci in relation to Sonia and her situation  
  
“...I see.” Shouri hung his head. Blakki had expected a “I know” or a “I figured” but he looked rather pained having found out most of the situation. She looked down at the sheets, the more her maestro dwelled on Sonia's situation, the more depressed he seemed to get. Blakki thought about what she could do for Shouri. Her ears stood up suddenly, she had an idea. The girl wrapped her arms around her partner’s chest.  
  
“Blakki?” He asked in slight surprise. The boy didn’t reject the gesture. He did nothing to fight it, but remained still, unsure of what protocol was in this situation. She pulled the boy backwards, laying down with him in her arms. “...Blakki...”  
  
“Sho...” She tightened her embrace. “It’ll be okay Sho.” Blakki's eyelids felt heavy.  
  
“..thank..y…”  
  
\---  
  
The crackle of those flames and the sights seared into the dreamscape were absent. There wasn’t any sound. The only thing that could be felt was the warmth of the flames.  
  
It was so real. The scalding air that moved around wildly. Each step was laborious. It was horrible. This hell would never end. It was inescapable. This was eternity. Being punished for some crime that they didn’t commit, or had yet to commit.  
  
That heat was unmistakable. The flames that licked away everything, that devoured all that was once built, that would ever exist. The flames that roasted away progress, that reset all to zero.  
  
This is what Blakki felt. Her heart was branded with these feelings, these emotions, this pain.  
  
Then her eyes opened. As her heart slowly returned to normal pace, she took in her surroundings. She saw a white shirt and brown hair through the light filtering into the room. Another fire-based nightmare? Was it a hint to her past?   
  
Oh well, right now the girl felt pretty comfortable. “Mm... Sho.” Blakki smiled, wrapping her arms around the boy once more, she closed her eyes, pressing her face into the boy's back.  
  
Blakki opened her eyes wide. She quickly released Shouri when she realized what she was doing. “I did that last night too.” She gulped. Her face gradually grew redder as the blood rushed to her face. “I slept with Sho...” She slimed onto the floor and just laid there. 

“I've slept with him before, after Sahji told us about the scherzando.” She thought aloud to herself as she laid on the ground. Blakki poked her head up to stare at Shouri sleeping.  
  
“He's still asleep.” The girl squeaked quietly. She turned back around and sat on the floor. “Should I wake him?” She hugged her knees close to her chest as she stared at the wall in front of her blankly, lost in thought. “We should probably get back home. Aura's probably not home now, I think…” She placed her hand on her tail which laid next to her and ran her fingers through her own fur.  
  
“We probably should.” Blakki heard Shouri's voice say from behind her.  
  
“EEEIYAAAAH!”  
  
The door burst open not a moment later. “WHAT'S GOING ON?! ARE WE UNDER ATTACK!?” Sonia screamed, holding a frying pan. Shouri looked back at Sonia listlessly. Blakki was up against the wall, tail puffed out. She was panting hard and holding her hands on her chest.  
  
“N-niente...” The red-faced girl exhaled.  
  
\---  
  
Shouri and Blakki stood outside Sonia's house, the fox-girl having obtained another gatsby from Sonia. “Thank you for letting us stay here.” Shouri told their hostess  
  
Said hostess would see her guests off with a smile as always. “It's fine, like I said last night, it was nice to have company.” Her lips turned down as she stared the her maestro counterpart. “We shouldn't do this alone. If Blakki senses something, please, wait for us.” She told him.  
  
Shouri remained quiet, slowly adverting his gaze from the other maestro. The older girl's brows descended at the stubbornness of the boy. “Shouri, I don't want you ending up on my doorstep again like that night. Just... Don't be reckless.”  
  
There was no verbal reply. He just gave a short nod and turned to walk away. Blakki looked back at Sonia, before following her own maestro. “Sh-Sho, are we gonna-?”  
  
“No, it's my fault. They don't need to involve themselves. We can handle it.” Shouri replied stubbornly.  
  
“...I see..” Blakki lowered her head. She bit her bottom lip. Why was he like this? She pulled the bill of her gatsby down to cover her eyes a bit. She had no idea how much time had passed, as she was lost in her thoughts as they walked. But the next time she became cognizant of what was around her is when her precious maestro shoved her hard into a nearby alley. The girl tumbled and fell down behind some boxes hard. “Ow! Sho!”  
  
“Stay hidden!” She heard Shouri's voice hiss in her head.  
  
Hastily, the fox-girl hid the best she could, given the circumstances. She saw the silver car Shouri had pointed out on the day they met. Then she saw Aura talking to Shouri. Since Blakki was hidden fairly well, she took off her hat and allowed her ears to poke up so she could listen to their conversation.  
  
“I've been walking around. I didn't want to get sick.”  
“You'll get sick just being out on the streets alone like this. And look at your clothes. What the fuck have you been doing?!”  
“I stayed in the forest.”  
“You're impossible. You wouldn't do this if Mom and dad-”  
“SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!”  
  
Blakki could hear the sounds of Shouri's shoes coming her way. Then just as rapidly, he ran past her, visibly upset, nearly on the verge of tears. From the same direction she then heard the tires squeal behind her as the silver car speed away. The resonator stood up, placing her gatsby back on her head and running after her maestro.  
  
“Stop following.” Shouri demanded as he walked.  
  
“I can't do that.” Blakki replied, matching each of his steps with her own.  
  
“I just want to be left alone.”  
“I'm here for you. I'll always follow you.”  
  
The maestro stopped, he hung his head, glaring at the ground. His resonator stopped behind him.  
  
“I'll follow you to the ends of the earth.”  
“Why are you like this?”  
“When we met, you were willing to die with me. You told me I wouldn’t die alone.”  
  
They both remained quiet for a moment. The sounds of the bustling city remained unimpeded as life moved on around them.  
  
“You always think of me first, even before yourself. What kind of person would I be if I didn’t answer such loyalty in kind?”  
  
“B-Blakki.” Shouri turned to the girl. Tears poured down his face, as they have been for some time now. She smiled at him - that’s what she could do at that moment: be a re-assuring face for him. In the next moment, the smile was wiped from the girl’s face as Shouri rushed over and wrapped his arms tightly around her. She just stood there in shock, face flushed red. “Sho...” Blakki blinked, her arms out, unsure of what to do.  
  
“J-just… d-don't leave me... okay?” Shouri asked, squeezing his precious partner tightly.  
  
After standing there like a deer in headlights at those words, she completed the embrace. “I-I wouldn't think of it…” Blakki breathed out, still blushing hard.


	10. Chapter 10

A couple of weeks had passed since they fought the sphinx scherzando, and encountered the man in the suit; their mysterious new enemy. They had yet to see him at all, despite the man’s warning to them to not interfere. The pair was always on edge when fighting, but they had yet to encounter any trouble like with the sphinx.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
Blakki and Shouri walked home in the dead of night, victorious against another scherzando. “How are you feeling Sho?” The fox-girl asked her maestro. As usual, her jacket was around her waist and her hat covered her ears. Despite how late it was, there were a couple of people wandering around at this time of night. It was best to avoid any dumb questions or unwanted attention  
  
“One hundred percent still.” He looked over at his resonator. “Even Forte level spells are nothing now.”  
  
“Hey Sho, can we stop somewhere to eat? I’m a bit hungry.”  
“Sure.”  
  
Conveniently, they were by a fast-food place, so they decided to stop there. The lobby was just opening up for breakfast, so they strolled in. Ordering their food to go, the pair hung out at the counter, waiting for their well-earned nourishment.   
  
The door opened and another pair walked in. This drew Shouri’s attention, causing his eyes to widen upon catching sight of who it was.  
  
Blakki turned to face what her maestro was looking, tightening her fists in preparation for another fight. The fox-girl relaxed a bit when she saw it wasn’t the man in the suit, but in fact a pair they hadn’t seen in a while.  
  
It was the woman and her resonator that saved them from the lightning scherzando, Faith and Ally. It seemed that Faith did in fact, recognize Shouri and Blakki and approached them. “Hm?” She looked the two over as they stared back uneasily.  
  
Faith grunted after making her own appraisal. “The rookie who got over his head.” Faith seemed to contemn Shouri. She raised an eyebrow. “I guess that’s not fair. You’re carrying yourself better than that night.” She muttered. Shouri wouldn’t hear this, but Blakki definitely caught that. The fox-girl couldn’t help but smirk a bit.  
  
Despite previously demonstrating how powerful she was in battle, Ally cowered behind her maestro, trying her best to appear smaller than she was.  
  
“I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” Shouri glared up at the slightly taller maestro.  
  
“Oh? I can’t give you any training tips. I struggled my way from the bottom. You should cherish what you have.” The woman smirked, definitely looking down on Shouri.  
  
Shouri rolled his eyes. “Cut the bravado. You ever meet a man in a black suit with short brown hair that can kill scherzando?” He asked.  
  
For a split second, Shouri saw the normally confident Faith waver. He immediately committed that expression to memory. “No. I haven’t. Resonators are the only things that scherzando care about and resonators are the only things that can stop them.” Her glare seemed even more intense than normal as she spoke.  
  
The lunar pair remained quiet, their respective resonators watching.  
  
“Show-ri?!” A third voice shouted. It was the fast-food worker with Shouri and Blakki’s order. The two maestros held their glares at each other for a moment longer, before the male of the two turned to get his food. As soon as he accepted the bag from the underpaid employee, he heard Faith speak.  
  
“This isn’t a game.”  
  
He spun around and saw Faith ordering food for herself and her own resonator.  
  
Deciding not to prolong this interaction any further, he and Blakki quickly left the establishment.  
  
\-----  
  
The pair sat in Shouri’s room at home, slowly consuming their food.  
  
“She’s hiding something.” Shouri spoke up suddenly.  
  
“Faith?” Blakki asked, knowing that’s what her maestro was taking about.  
  
The boy nodded. “When I asked her about the suited man, she made a face, it was like… shock or maybe even guilt. Granted, we haven’t seen much of her, but she seems like the type of person to avoid making faces like that. But the way she looked at me when I mentioned that man, looked like she was going to apologize.” He explained. Blakki hadn’t seen what expression that Faith had made, so she couldn’t corroborate that.  
  
“She said “this isn’t a game” the exact same way that man had said it to us.” Blakki noted, before taking another bite into her breakfast sandwich.  
  
Shouri frowned. “Was that supposed to be a hint?” He pondered aloud, not eating himself. This was bothering him far more than his hunger.  
  
Blakki swallowed her own food. “Non lo so. But what I do know is that you should eat your food before it gets cold.” She frowned at her maestro.  
  
The boy replied with a yawn. “Fine fine, getting tired anyways.”  
  
\-----  
  
The following night  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
With that command another scherzando easily dispatched. This night though, there was much less light than the prior nights, this was due in part to heavy cloud cover obscuring the night sky. Lightning arced between the clouds. Blakki took notice of this and grabbed Shouri’s arm.  
  
“Eh?” The boy looked over at the fox-girl who clung to him. She pointed at the sky, where more lightning arced between the clouds.  
  
“Ah.” He nodded, acknowledging what she had pointed at. “Dunno when the weather’s gonna take a turn so let’s hurry.”  
  
The pair arrived back at the apartment; however, they ran into a complication. The lights were on. Shouri could see it through the kitchen window. “Fuck.” He cursed.  
  
“W-wait, why is she awake now?” Blakki whimpered, paying more attention to the clouds above them than the matter of Shouri’s sister.  
  
Shouri was already stomping up the steps to the second floor where their apartment was. “Stay here. I’ll let you know when it’s all clear.”  
  
Blakki immediately panicked, but didn’t follow. “Sh-sho!? What about the-?!” Worried eyes shot back up to the sky which was lit up with all kinds of lightning. The poor abandoned girl trembled in fright. She wanted to advert her gaze from the sky, but she was helplessly drawn towards looking at it.  
  
 _“Hey, make yourself scarce, she’s coming!”_  
  
That mental command came too late as Blakki was standing face-to-face with Aura. “Hm? What are you doing out here?” Aura asked the other girl. The older woman was dressed for work, hair up in a bun, suit on, purse over her shoulder, keys spinning around her fingers.  
  
Blakki just stood there like a deer in headlights. It was dark outside, so Aura was having a difficult time actually committing any of Blakki’s features to memory. “You look super familiar, have we met before?” Aura asked.  
  
“N-No! Non abbiamo! Buona notte!” The black-haired girl shouted in a panic and ran.  
  
Aura frowned. “Weird. Didn’t know we had Spanish speaking people here. Or was that French? Ah well. I gotta get to work.” She decided before dismissing it and walking to her car.  
  
The Italian speaking fox-girl meanwhile ran around their apartment building and practically flew up the back set of stairs before coming back around to apartment 471. As soon as Shouri opened the door, he was nearly tackled by his overly frightened resonator.  
  
\-----  
  
“Hey Sho?”  
“Hm?”  
  
The day had passed and the pair had awoken by early evening. Blakki laid on Shouri’s bed as he used his computer, so their usual arrangement.  
  
“Will you ever tell Aura about me?”  
  
The boy stopped typing. He stared at his keyboard. “I…” He closed his mouth trying to collect his thoughts. He turned to his resonator. “I don’t want to take that risk.” He told her.  
  
Blakki looked up at him from her laying position. “What do you think will happen?”  
  
“I dunno. That’s the problem. Being a girl with fox ears and a tail is one thing. The other thing is the scherzando.”  
  
The pair remained quiet.  
  
“B-but we’ve gotten stronger.” Blakki pointed out.  
  
“There’s always going to be someone stronger right around the corner.”  
  
That silenced Blakki again. “B-but we have Sonia and…” She looked down; she wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince at this point.  
  
“It’s not whether we’re strong or not. She’s been way overprotective since-” He suddenly went quiet, cutting himself off mid-thought. He stood up, grabbing his things as if they were leaving. Blakki sat up and swung her feet off the bed to leave.  
  
“No!”  
  
The girl looked up at her maestro, whose back was towards her. “Just stay here, please.”  
  
She just watched him leave the room, unsure of what to do. “Sh-sho!” She finally shouted when the front door to the apartment closed. “What did I do?” Her ears wilted as her gaze fell downwards.


	11. Chapter 11

Flames, flames that brought the end of times. The wood that nurtured and held firm against time, that watched many grow and flourish above it.  
  
It could not stand against the fires that raged.  
  
Blakki was more conscious of her surroundings this time. Slowly this strange landscape had begun to become more and more vivid as time went on. Sight, smell, sound, taste, touch. All five senses had become more and more attuned to the environment with every visit.  
  
Now the young girl sat before a collapsed pile of rubble. She was desperately trying to move it for reasons unknown even to her. Even as the heat around her pushed her rapidly towards her limit, her breaking point; she continued to work.  
  
“Ow!” A loose nail which once held portions of the collapsing building sliced open her finger as she worked.  
  
Then she sat up in a cold sweat. The cool darkness of the closet which she slept. Back to reality once more.  
  
“That felt...so real.” Blakki opened the closet door. It was about three in the morning. She stared at Shouri who was surprisingly asleep (which was early for him). She lowered her head recalling how he had suddenly left without her earlier. He came back after some time, but once again refused to tell her where he had gone.  
  
She’d only dwell on that for a bit longer as nature beckoned the young girl to move from her resting place. So move she did. She crept out from the closet and walked out of Shouri's room. She silently crept over to the bathroom adjacent to their bedroom. She closed the door behind her and locked it, in case either of the two siblings got any ideas about late-night bathroom visits.  
  
The fox-girl winced as she flicked on the lights, her eyes having adjusted to the darkness of her closet. “Uhg...” Blakki looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess. She pushed herself forward on the sink a bit to get a closer look at the bags under her eyes. As she shifted her weight on her hands she slipped.  
  
That was odd, she hadn’t turned on the sink; why was it wet? “Huh?” Blakki looked down and noticed there seemed to be a bit of red liquid on the sink edge. Her heart began to race. “I'm...” Hesitantly, she lifted her hand up and looked at it. There was smeared blood all over her hands. The poor girl trembled as she resisted screaming with all her might. She teared up as she washed her hands. Fear, it permeated her form. Her face grew paler and paler as she washed away the blood and found the exact same cut as the one from her dream. Blakki began breathing very quickly. “Oh god… oh god…” Tears poured down the girl’s cheeks and mixed with the blood on the counter as the terror mounted.  
  
She stepped backwards, turning her head quickly when she hit the wall behind her. “Sh-sho...” She whimpered. Blakki quickly fled from the bathroom, leaving everything as it was. She opened the door to Shouri's room, closed it behind her, and locked it. With the door secured, she darted over to Shouri's bed and began shaking him awake. “Sho.. Sho.. Sho!” She sobbed in a panic.  
  
Groggily, the boy turned over from the assault on his sleep “This had better be good.” He groaned. Through the light that peeked through the window, he managed to see Blakki's face. Tears streamed down her face, she looked horrified. He quickly sat up, fearing Aura had discovered her again.  
  
He grabbed his partner’s shoulders. “What happened?” He asked, his tone having changed from annoyance to concern.  
  
The girl took a moment to stop sobbing and catch her breath so she could form a coherent sentence. “I-I dunno. I woke up-” She stopped to sniffle. “-and then there was blood. and I…” She stopped once more to sniffle.  
  
“Uhhh, Blakki. I don't want to be the one to break this to you but that is a normal process that girls-”  
  
“Not there Sho!” Blakki snapped, her face flushed red. She held out her hand for him to look.  
  
“Oh god, what is it?” Shouri grabbed her wrist and pulled it forward. He looked at the cut on her hand there seemed to be a pretty heavily bleeding cut going from the bottom of her index finger up to the second segment of the same finger. He moved the skin to see how deep it was. Blakki winced a bit in pain. “Ow. What did you do?” Shouri asked, releasing his partner’s hand  
  
“I don't know!” She pulled her hand back towards her and held the wrist of her injured hand with her uninjured one. “In my dream I cut my hand, and when I woke up it was like this!” Blakki cried.  
  
Shouri blinked a couple of times. Blakki wouldn’t lie to him, he knew that. If that’s what she said happened, that was what happened. “That's pretty horrifying.” He admitted.  
  
“Do you see why I'm freaking out!?” She yelped.  
  
He exhaled sharply, but smiled warmly. “Alright, alright. Let's get this cleaned up first.” Shouri got out of bed, and guided the girl back to the bathroom of panic attacks. Blakki just stared at her maestro’s face as he cleaned off her wound. It was then that she had taken notice of his warm, gentle smile. She couldn’t help but blush and look away.  
  
He applied some anti-biotic to the wound and stuck a band-aid on it. “There, all happy.” Shouri smiled at his resonator.  
  
“Stop...” Blakki moaned, shoving him away, and hiding her very red face.  
  
With the medical work completed, they returned to the room. Shouri, still exhausted, crawled back into the warm invite of his comfy bed. “Sh-sho..?” Blakki stood at his bedside.  
  
“Hmm..?” He turned his head back to sleepily look at his resonator.  
  
She fidgeted nervously as she stood in place. “C-can I sleep with you tonight?” The fox-girl mustered up the courage to ask  
  
“Why?”  
“I'm still scared from earlier. I just want you there…”  
  
Her ears were flattened and her tail wrapped around her legs. Shouri remained quiet. He then scooted over to give the frightened girl room, and also lifted his blanket up, as if to invite her in.  
  
Blakki laid down next to him. Shouri let the blanket fall onto her. “Sho...” She wrapped her arms around the boy. She also brought her tail up and wrapped it around him. He patted the girl’s head with elicited a giggle from the girl in question  
  
“Good night Blakki.”  
“Buona notte, Sho…”  
  
\-----  
  
Shouri opened his eyes. There was a warmth in his arms, his vision slowly trained down. He was greeted with Blakki in his arms, smiling happily. He stared at her sleeping form for a moment. Her soft black hair covering a portion of her face, ears folded back as she breathed softly. Her fair skin was nearly flawless, and probably soft to the touch (though Shouri silently worried she would need lots of sunscreen if they ever needed to stay outdoors during an extended period during the summer.)  
  
Even asleep, she looked as if she didn’t have a care in the world. In a way the safety and security she felt lying beside him was beautiful in a poetic way. Shouri inhaled deeply and exhaled. He cursed the female form and his own anatomy in his head.  
  
Blakki awoke several minutes later when the door opened and shut again. She noticed Shouri wasn't in her arms like she had fallen asleep to. “Buh?” She turned her head to see Shouri standing at the door, looking half awake. His usual white shirt was slightly damp where his wet brown hair was dripping down onto it. “Where did you go Sho?”  
  
The boy adverted his gaze, and instead walked over to his desk. “I took a very long, cold, shower.” He practically droned.  
  
The poor, confused fox-girl who only woke a mere minute ago blinked slowly, trying to process what her maestro was saying. “Why?” She finally asked.  
  
“Because the figure of the human body is a terrible, terrifying thing, that should never be taken lightly.” He sat down in his chair unceremoniously and turned to his computer.  
  
“Uhhh…” Confused she remained  
  
“Forget it.”  
  
The day proceeded in a fairly routine matter. Blakki finding random things to keep herself occupied during the day, while Shouri just used his computer.  
  
Evening came upon the town with little fanfare, just a normal weekday had come and gone.  
  
“Blakki.”  
“Huh?”  
  
Blakki looked up from a pile of interlocking plastic bricks she had managed to find. “Are you happy here?” Her eyes locked with his as they stared at each other. She processed his question, trying to decipher some kind of hidden meaning.  
  
She couldn’t find one. “Of course, I am Sho. You're here with me. I couldn't be happier.” So she just spoke the truth, smiling warmly as she did so. Shouri just stared at Blakki, as if in a trance. He suddenly turned away.  
  
“That's good.”  
  
Shouri rose from his chair and grabbed his things. “I'm gonna go for a walk.” He announced.  
  
“Oh, I'll get my-”  
“No, you stay here.”  
  
The room stayed quiet.  
  
“But-”  
“No! Please. Just stay here.”  
  
The girl’s vision fell. Again? Where was he going? After asking that question to her, the girl couldn’t help but be wrought with worry. “…ok…” She finally conceded. At that moment, she heard the door close. “Sho!” She snapped her head up to see her maestro gone, and the door closed. Her arm was outstretched, having attempted to reach out to him, but he had already left.  
  
“Shouri…” Blakki breathed out, dropping her arm to her side again. “What did I do wrong?” She asked, ears folded back. The fox girl sat in the middle of the room, staring down at the floor. “What did I do wrong?” She whimpered, the tears flowing freely once again.  
  
Shouri returned an hour later. He walked into the house, hands in his jacket pockets, with a rather stoic expression on his face. He closed the door behind him, flipped the deadbolt into the locked position, and kicked off his shoes. He walked into his room, notably the resident fox-girl was missing. Shouri sighed, walking up to his closet. He knocked on the door. “Blakki?” He called out. No response.  
  
He shook his head, and pulled the tuner from his side. Blakki’s rhythm looked fine, so she hadn’t gone looking for him and ended up in trouble. With a grunt of annoyance, he held down the talk button. “Blakki, where are you?” Shouri asked, taking extra effort to keep his voice even. He released the talk button and held down the listen button. The irritated boy frowned rather bitterly when the device remained silent. “Hrm.” He moved his thumb from the listen button down to the red control button.  
  
“I'm in the hall closet.”  
  
He heard Blakki's voice from the device. Shouri shook his head, he saw where his thumb was. His grip around the device intensified as he attempted to crush it in his hand. “Was I really about to-?” Shouri gritted his teeth, glaring at tuner that rebelled against his grip. “Coward!” He cursed. In a rage punched the wall in front of him. The wall held firm, he didn’t use nearly enough force to go through the drywall, he was just frustrated. For a moment he remained stationary, fist still in contact with the wall.  
  
The door opened not a minute later. “Sho! Are you-?” Blakki noted Shouri's intense expression.  
  
His glare met her concern “What?” He practically snarled at her.  
  
“I'm sorry...” Blakki shirked back and quickly ran out of the room.  
  
“Blakki!” He felt his thumb shift towards that inviting red control button. “Fuck this god damn-!” The enraged maestro turned and threw the device as hard as he could against the opposite wall. It hit the wall and clattered to the ground harmlessly. Shouri stepped backwards, pressing his back against the wall, and sliding down to a sitting position.  
  
Blakki poked her head into the room, her tail was between her legs, and her ears were folded back. A few more hours had passed, “Sh-sho..?” She whimpered fearfully. She saw Shouri sitting near the closet, he was hugging his knees, head down.  
  
“Come here please.” His voice was hoarse.  
  
The resonator slowly walked over, and sat down next to her maestro. They sat in silence for a moment before the fox-girl gathered enough courage to speak up. “What's wrong Sho?”  
  
“Me.” Shouri replied quietly, he poked his head up slightly, she could see his eyes were red. It was obvious he had done some crying in her absence.  
  
The fox-girl fretted nervously, but needed him to know she was there for him, that she was his partner. “I don't understand...” Was the first step. She couldn’t help him without understanding what was happening.  
  
He offered no helpful information. “I'm such a mess.” Shouri droned.  
  
She gulped. The girl really didn’t know what to do. So, she pressed on. “Please tell me what's wrong.” The girl pleaded.  
  
“...I can't..”  
“Please!”  
  
She placed her hands on Shouri's shoulder. Shouri looked over at Blakki's concerned expression. “Please Sho. Let me in.” She begged.  
  
A crack. He glanced off to the side. “...It's a long story.” He finally spoke.  
  
The girl’s face lit up. “I'll listen. I always do.” Blakki smiled. She had to stay positive. The reason he got this way was because of her negative emotions (or at least that’s what she assumed was what had happened)  
  
He buried his head into his knees again. Blakki opened her mouth to speak, to keep trying, however she was cut off by Shouri speaking up.  
  
“I suppose it's better than keeping it bottled up.”  
  
The pair moved to the bed, not wanting to sit on the floor while taking a trip down memory lane.  
  
“Where should I even start?” Shouri asked.  
  
“Non lo so; just with whatever you wanna tell me.” Blakki was nervous, but excited - she wagged her tail unconsciously from the excitement of the occasion.  
  
“I guess the beginning works.” The boy shrugged. His gaze fell towards the ground, not wanting to look at his partner as he spoke. “I had a friend; I knew her from when we were kids.” He paused. “Her name was-” His voice cracked as he stopped. Blakki noticed him tremble and shake his head. “-I can’t. It hurts too much just to say her name.” He admitted.  
  
Blakki patted her maestro’s back. “It’s okay Sho, at your own pace.” She smiled reassuringly. He didn’t look over; he continued to hang his head, focusing on the ground.  
  
“Right, well she was the more outgoing one between us. She had lots of friends that I associated with by proxy of being her friend. I don’t think they liked me.” He explained. The smile slowly faded from the girl’s lips. There was something off about that statement, but she didn’t know what.  
  
“We did pretty much everything together. She's probably the bravest person I've ever known. And I loved her.” Blakki bit the inside of her bottom lip, hard. Those words hurt her in multiple ways. But she had to stay strong, she could see Shouri breaking down ever so slightly from recounting his past.  
  
“Anyways, enough set up. Here’s what happened.” He paused to gather his thoughts. Meanwhile, Blakki's heart raced; She didn't want to hear what happened. She knew exactly where this was heading. However, she didn't have a choice. If she wanted to understand Shouri better, this was something she had to hear.  
  
“The investigators don’t know how it happened, but our home caught fire. It rapidly spread. She was with me that night.” He began. Blakki gulped. This already sounded bad.  
  
“I remember she woke me up. The room was hot. She told me that the house was on fire, but we were going to get out. I grabbed the doorknob; it was horribly hot. She threw me a towel to open the door. We made it down the stairs and were going towards the back door, but part of the top floor crumbled away and blocked our path. We turned for the front door, before we made it, she pushed me.”  
  
He paused again. Blakki could see the tears rolling down his face. She could feel Shouri's emotions radiating off of him. Fear, sadness, regret, anger. It was a bitter mix of emotions.  
  
“A ton of burning house practically cut her in half, I tried to get her out, but I couldn’t move the stuff and the house was rapidly crumbling. She told me to go. I trusted her, and I trusted the fire fighters.” He stopped speaking again.  
  
“I was an idiot.”  
“I shouldn’t have trusted anyone.”  
“I should have stayed with her.”  
  
Once more, he ceased speaking.  
  
Blakki spoke up. “You don’t have to-”  
  
“No, let me finish.”  
  
The fox-girl gulped. “Okay Sho.” She replied shakily. Her own conviction was wavering, but she’d see this to the finish.  
  
Shouri breathed in deeply, and exhaled, to continue. “I left the house, and right after, the entire building collapsed.” He spoke solemnly. “Me and Aura were the only two to make it out. Both of our parents, and my friend died in the fire.”  
  
He suddenly looked up at Blakki, his tear-soaked eyes staring into hers. “I couldn’t save her! I was right there Blakki! She didn’t have to die alone!” His expression showed desperation, as if shouting those words would have turned back the clock and let him have the ending he desired. Blakki couldn’t take it and adverted her gaze, closing her eyes, and pushing the tears that were building from her eyes.  
  
“I wanted it to end so badly. I lived, but every night I was plagued by those memories. They were etched into my subconscious.” Once more he was visibly trembling. “I tried to kill myself.”  
  
Blakki looked back over at her maestro in shock. “Aura convinced me not to. She said that since we survived, we had to keep living for everyone who didn’t.” He told his resonator. “When I don’t know what to do I go visit her grave.”  
  
“Is that where you go when-?”  
“Yeah.”  
  
The pair remained quiet for a moment.  
  
“So much for living though, huh?” He chuckled hollowly. “I just sit at home all day and read about how depressing the world is.” He laid back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. “I haven’t done anything with this life that she saved.” The melancholy boy closed his eyes.  
  
Suddenly, a weight on top of him. Opening his eyes, he saw the top of Blakki’s head. She wrapped her arms around his torso and held him tightly.  
  
“That’s just not true Sho.” She looked up, resting her chin on his chest. “You saved me, that has to count for something, right?”  
  
His mouth hung open for a moment, before he closed it and smiled.  
  
“You might be right…”


	12. Chapter 12

“Luce Lunare, Piano!”  
“Ghiacciolo, Piano!”  
  
A ball of shadowy energy and a thin blade of ice and flew towards a wild pig like scherzando. This grass covered warthog managed to dodge the blob of lunar energy that was thrown at it, but it dodged right into the blade of ice that had similarly been cast right after.  
  
The creature, facing down a pair of resonators snorted and stomped the ground as it got back up.  
  
“God damn it, who told it to dodge?” Shouri complained.  
“I think we almost got it though.” Sonia told her fellow maestro.  
  
“Yeah yeah.” The boy shook his head and sighed. “Blakki, still good?” He called out to his partner.  
  
“Si!” The focused resonator shouted back. The other resonator, Vinci, stood next to her, similarly focused on their target.  
  
“I wish we had something to like pin this thing down. It keeps fucking dodging and its pissing me off.” Shouri resumed his complaining, while scrolling up and down his spell list in his tuner. Sonia was doing the same thing.  
  
“Look out!” Vinci shouted suddenly.  
  
The maestros looked up and fell out of the way just in time to avoid being ran down by the charging scherzando. Shouri’s tuner beeped loudly from his position on the ground. “Eh?” Upon checking his tuner, he noticed a new spell on his list.  
  
The scherzando meanwhile was gathering a flurry of leaves around it. One Shouri recognized as a nature elemental spell that the rabbit-eared resonator Ally had used at one point.   
  
The male maestro glanced down at his spell list. Maybe this new one would be another attack. They only has Luce Lunare as their solitary attack spell. “Blakki, Mente Offuscata, Pianissimo!” He commanded. Sonia and Vinci looked over. That was a new one to them.   
  
When using the spells Shouri commanded of her, Blakki let her body perform the motions needed on its own. This spell was no different from normal. She felt her left hand reach up, ring, pinky, and thumb fold down and pressing her extended middle and index fingers onto her temple. She closed her eyes and held out her right hand, palm facing out towards the intended target of this new spell.  
  
From the outside observer, they saw Blakki’s hand light up with bright purple energy, then a brief burst or flash of energy from the scherzando’s head. It stumbled, the attack it had been gathering energy for fading away as it winced in pain.  
  
Seizing the opportunity, Sonia shouted out a command: “Vinci, Lanciafiamme, Piano!”  
  
Shouri adverted his gaze as Vinci created a thin blade of fire that easily sliced through the stunned scherzando, scattering it into the wind.  
  
Once the enemy was fully dissipated, Sonia allowed herself to relax. “Whew. That was a pretty good attack for a Pianissimo.” She noted, slowly catching her breath.  
  
“Stai bene?” Blakki asked. Shouri looked up and saw his resonator hunched over him, holding out her hand for him. He smiled and accepted it, allowing her to help him up to his feet.  
  
The quartet walked home. It was late at night, but thankfully there didn’t seem to be anyone around.  
  
“You guys have gotten really good.” Sonia noted as they walked.  
  
“So have you. Do you have any forte spells yet?” Shouri asked.  
  
“Just the rock one, which of course was useless against a nature-element.” Sonia complained. “We have the worst luck like that.”  
  
“You’re fine.” Shouri waved it off. They reached a spot where they’d need to head their separate ways. Sonia turned to the boy.  
  
“Thanks for coming out with us tonight.”  
“No problem.”  
“Talk to you later”  
“Yeah.”  
  
And with that the two pairs split up and went their separate ways.  
  
“I wonder when we’re gonna get the Fortissimo spells.” Blakki pondered aloud as they walked.  
  
“Dunno, if they’re really the strongest level then they must be powerful. And exhausting.” The boy groaned after the second statement. Over the past few weeks that they had been together, they had been able to use higher level spells, but they HAD to use them as it seemed like the scherzando they faced got tougher as well.  
  
So, he ended up feeling pretty tired after every skirmish. Blakki seemed to share in his exhaustion. He was silently thankful they had access to healing spells though, so Aura wouldn’t have to worry if he ever got hurt by a scherzando. Though another thing to be grateful about was that outside of the tiger and sphinx, the other scherzando they had faced weren’t that tough. Just annoying.  
  
“Whatcha thinking about?” Blakki spoke up.  
  
“Ah nothing. Just tired.” He shook his head.  
  
“Me too, can’t wait to go to sleep.” The girl yawned, stretching out. She wanted to stretch her tail out so badly, but that’d have to wait until they were in the safety of Shouri’s bedroom.  
  
Shouri smiled warmly. “Come on, let’s keep going.” He began walking once more.  
  
The girl giggled and followed along.  
  
\-----  
  
It was always the same. 

The flames that surrounded her. The crackling and splintering of wood. The slightly ashen taste that assaulted her mouth. The horrible stench of burning chemicals in the air.  
  
The heat that slowly cooked her skin. It was so vivid, so real.  
  
So painful.  
  
Blakki shook herself awake. What was with these dreams? They always seemed so real. And sometimes they were. Blakki looked at her thumb and pulled off the bandage. The wound healed up pretty nicely. The fox-girl exhaled softly and closed her eyes. The next moment, she heard a soft tapping on the closet door.  
  
“Nuhh... Yes?” Blakki sat up. There was more light filtering in; she must have fallen back asleep in the short time her eyes had been closed.  
  
The closet door opened to reveal Shouri standing in the doorway. “You wanna go out?” He offered, already prepared to leave himself.  
  
She didn’t know what to make of the sudden offer. “S-sure..”  
  
Blakki tilted her hat forward as they walked down the street. The path they were taking wasn't familiar to her. She looked at the shops they were passing by, none were ones she recognized.  
  
Then she noticed something coming up ahead. There was a rather large gap in the buildings. Surrounding the clearing was a wrought iron fence. They stopped in front of the the gate. “Oh...” Blakki breathed out. It was the city cemetery, the sign nearby confirmed this.  
  
Shouri opened the gate, and held it open for Blakki. “Come on. It's this way.”  
  
The girl gulped. She hadn’t visited a cemetery before, and coming to one so suddenly caught her by surprise. “A-alright.” Blakki followed her maestro hesitantly. Almost immediately, she felt a chill down her spine. Just passing the boundary between the main street and the graveyard proper felt like walking into an airconditioned building, at least to the resonator. “G-gah. Why is it suddenly so cold?” She questioned, holding herself tightly and shivering. She heard the gate close behind her.  
  
A warmth was placed on her from behind “Here.” Looking over, Shouri’s jacket was now draped over her shoulders.  
  
“They say that when a ghost is nearby the air around it is chilled.” Shouri walked ahead. “I've never felt anything like that.” He admitted.  
  
“Maybe we resonators are just more sensitive to that kinda thing?” Blakki shrugged, following along.  
  
“Maybe.” He stated simply, continuing to walk ahead. It seemed he had a destination in mind as they walked.  
  
Blakki set her gaze to the ground beneath them, not really wanting to see the various names etched into the tombstones. She ran into her maestro’s back. “Mi dispiace…” The fox girl muttered, looking up quickly. What she saw, was the reason why Shouri was stopped in place. It was a scherzando that looked like a large mink, with fur that flickered like fire. The mink stood on top of a gravestone and just glared at the pair, as if it had been awaiting their arrival.  
  
“Blakki.”  
  
Shouri's voice trembled, not with fear like she would expect from them facing a fire-element enemy, but with anger. “Kill it.” He hissed.  
  
“Alright.” Blakki stepped forward. She adjusted her hat on her head as she dropped down into a combat position.   
  
“Luce lunare, Piano!” Shouri commanded. Blakki formed a ball of lunar-element energy and threw it at the creature. The mink jumped from its perch and fired a ball of fire towards Blakki. The fire ball engulfed the ball of lunar energy and kept going, slamming into Blakki.  
  
“Caldo caldo caldo!” The girl yelped, patting her stomach where the ball of fire had hit her. Her own resonator defenses stopped her from being actually burnt, but it was still unpleasant feeling nonetheless.  
  
“Not just a light show huh?” Shouri glared, noting his resonator’s displayed health took a sizable hit. “Not good.” He growled under his breath  
  
“Ow.” Blakki moaned, still rubbing her gut where the attack had made its impact. “I can still go.” She breathed heavily, keeping focus on the enemy scherzando.  
  
Another fire ball was being formed in front of the scherzando  
  
“Mente Offuscata, Pianissimo!”  
  
Blakki held out her hand, channeling her lunar elemental energy into a mental attack. The burst of energy came from the opposing creature’s head. However, rather than interrupting the attack as they had done last night, the fireball launched and flew into a random direction, smashing into a gravestone. The fire spread and began to burn away some flowers that had been left for the soul that rested below the stone  
  
“No!” Shouri shouted, distressed by the result. The creature stumbled about, suffering the effects of the previous spell used on it.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
With a toss of a much larger lunar-elemental ball of energy, the creature was vanquished and slowly began to vanish.  
  
“Whew, got him.” Blakki smiled proudly, relishing in their handy work.  
  
“Yes, yes I did.”  
  
A new voice had reached her ears. The fox-girl whipped around to see the man from weeks ago, holding a now unconscious Shouri. “Sh-sho!” She yelped. “Let him go!” The resonator demanded.  
  
The man glared through his sunglasses at the creature that opposed him. “You're hardly in the position to make demands, 2572.” He stated, looking down at the girl.  
  
She gritted her teeth. With her maestro unconscious, she didn’t have any powers. She was just a girl. Even so, she wasn’t going to let this happen, not without a fight. “I'm not letting you take him. Now I'll say it again, let him go, or else!” Blakki snarled.  
  
The man shook his head, as if in disbelief at what this _mere_ resonator was saying to him “Your usefulness ended a long time ago, you dumb animal.”  
  
Like an animal, she ran at the man. She didn't know what she was going to do, but all she knew is she needed to get Shouri back. The man held his arm out, he snapped his fingers. The next minute played out in fragments for the young resonator. The only thing she knew is gravity had shifted direction and she was now flying through the air. The fox-girl landed with a thud in the dirt. She laid there, her whole body numb from an unknown assault.  
  
“No... please... don't take him from me...” Blakki begged, her vision was fading, her strength had already deserted her. The man stood over her as she struggled to maintain her consciousness. “This is a good place for you. Just die.” She heard his footsteps get more and more distant. Then everything went black.  
  
\---  
  
“Ugh, what a day.” Aura breathed out, she pulled her car into her usual parking spot at their apartments, and turned off the vehicle. “I need a vacation. Maybe in a couple of weeks when school lets out.” She rested her head on the edge of the steering wheel, closing her eyes. The orange hues of the setting sun slowly faded into darkness.  
  
The overworked woman slowly opened her eyes. “I have a bed to sleep in.” Taking her keys out of the ignition, she grabbed her purse from the passenger seat and exited the car. She slowly shambled her way up the stairs, then into her apartment. Keys were thrown onto the table, purse dropped to the ground wherever. Then the couch. She fell onto the couch, enjoying the comfort it provided.  
  
After a moment of lying there she decided to summon her brother (or at least confirm his presence in their home) “Shouri!” She waited a moment to hear an irritated yell back.  
  
“Shouri!” A second call. No response. Aura sat up, now irritated herself. “Shouri!” She barked once more. And yet again, there was no reply. “Shouri Zaffre Tomoshibi!” Calling his full name in irritation as she walked over to his room. “Shouri, are you sleeping or something?!” Aura threw the door open. It was dark in her brother’s room. The light from the nearby streetlamps gave an eerie yellowish glow to the room. Aura flipped on the ceiling fan light next to the door. “Shouri-?” The blonde-haired woman stopped her angry shouting when she realized there was nobody there.  
  
This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence in the Tomoshibi household however, and only elicited further annoyance from the older sibling. “God damn it.” The woman smacked her face, dragging her hand down in frustration. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cellphone. She hit her top contact waited for her brother to grumble at her from the other side. However, she was greeted with his voicemail.  
  
“ASSHOLE!” Aura shouted and ended the call immediately. After a moment of stewing on her emotions, she then dialed back and left a proper voice-mail asking where he was. “Shouri, why do you do this to me?” Aura leaned against the door frame, holding the back of her hand against her forehead in exasperation.  
  
There was a sudden rapid knocking on the door. “Shouri? Did you lose your key again?!” Aura stomped over to the door. She peeked through the peep-hole and saw the same jacket Shouri was always wearing.  
  
“Shouri!” Aura threw open the door. However, upon further inspection, who was standing there did not meet her expectations. A pair of rather scared looking blue eyes stared back at her. The person that stood before her was wearing her brother’s jacket, it was opened, revealing a white t-shirt. They had black pants and a second black jacket tied around their waist. They were wearing a black gatsby on their head and short black hair poked out from underneath that.  
  
A bit disarmed, Aura decided to ask the relevant question: “Who are you?” This person was wearing her brother’s jacket, or at least one very similar to it. However, this person was knocking on their door while wearing this jacket at a point where the owner of that jacket was missing. It seemed too perfect to be a coincidence, and that put young Aureolin Tomoshibi on edge.   
  
“H-h-hello... M-my name is...” They were nervous, that much was clear. Additionally, from the pitch of their voice, this person was a female.  
  
“What's wrong?” Aura asked. This girl was obviously very afraid of something. They were hunched over and held the jacket they were wearing close to them. They kept looking around rapidly. “And why do you have my brother's jacket?” The older woman asked.  
  
“Er..Uh..Well.. I...” The girl stumbled over her words, continuing to look around fearfully.  
  
The irritated woman sighed. “We're getting nowhere, come inside.” Aura motioned for the confused and distraught girl to come inside. She nodded and walked in.  
  
Aura stepped out for a moment and looked both ways, seeing nothing of interest, she walked back in and locked the door. “You can take off your hat.” She told her new guest.  
  
“I'm fine.” The guest in question squeaked out.  
  
“So who are you?”  
“Er..My name is Blakki.”  
  
“Blakki? Interesting name. So back to my other question: Why do you have my brother’s jacket?” Aura asked, leaning back against the door behind her and folding her arms across her chest. She glared at this mystery girl as she fidgeted nervously under the scrutiny of her questioning.  
  
“He gave it to me, because I was cold.” Blakki admitted.  
  
That was obviously a lie (at least that’s how Aura felt). “Okayyy... I know that is a load of crap.”  
  
However, this was something Blakki would be adamant about. “I-It's true!” She shouted. “Sho put it on me when we went to the graveyard, because I was cold.” Her gaze fell.  
  
The over-protective older sister narrowed her eyes. So that WAS her brother’s jacket. There was now a re-visited, but pressing question: “WHO are you?”  
  
“I... need your help...” Blakki whimpered quietly.  
  
Aura pushed herself off of the door. “That's nice, who are you, and where is my brother?” She began to walk towards the mysterious girl.  
  
Blakki began to step backwards fearfully. The wrath of an older sister was terrifying it seemed. The glare of pure anger that was being directed at the poor frightened girl was nearly suffocating in its own right. “I..we.. Sho- Shouri was taken.” She finally told the older woman  
  
“What?!” Aura barked.  
  
Blakki ran into the wall, she looked back at the wall nervously.   
  
SLAM  
  
Then Aura's hand invaded Blakki’s vision as it slammed into the wall next to her. The frightened fox directed her gaze towards the interrogator in surprise. “Taken by WHO!?” She growled, The glare on her face only intensifying.  
  
Poor Blakki was terrified, she just spoke to what she could: “I-I don't know who they are! They just came and took him!” She shouted back as tears began to roll down her cheeks.  
  
“WHO are THEY?!” Aura continued to raise her voice as she wasn’t getting the answers she wanted.  
  
“I don't know! The man had sunglasses and a suit!” Blakki sobbed. Suddenly there was a hand around her neck, pushing her against the wall.  
  
“I swear to god. If… If you killed my brother. I will-” Aura breathed heavily, she slowly began to crush Blakki's neck, as the other girl grabbed her wrist and tried to stop the older woman from choking her out.  
  
“P-Please..Stop...I wouldn't.. I love Sho!” Blakki cried with the last of her breath. Aura's hand opened. She stepped back, watching the other girl fall to her hands and knees. She coughed hard, holding her neck. Her hat fell off her head, revealing her fluffy fox ears.  
  
“What the...?” Aura stared at this mysterious girl. She couldn’t see any human ears. “Fox… ears?” The older woman gasped out. She looked down the girl for any other features of interest. She yanked the jacket off of the other girl's waist on an impulse. This revealed a poofy black tail with a white tip. “What are you?”   
  
“I-I'm Shouri’s resonator… and I need your help…” Blakki admitted, looking up at Aura.


	13. Chapter 13

Blakki kept her head down, she felt a bit uneasy. Lights flashed by as the street lamps passed by. The fox-girl was sitting in the passenger seat of Aura's car. The owner of the vehicle in question, of course, was driving. The resonator had never ridden in a car before. She always saw them pass by as she walked with Shouri everywhere. But now she was, and it was making her ill. “Uhhh.” Blakki held her hands on her stomach and hunched over in the seat.  
  
“Carsick?” Aura asked, keeping her eyes on the road (mostly because she was speeding as usual).  
  
“I think so, yeah.” Blakki moaned closing her eyes. “I've never been in one of these before.” The fox-girl added.  
  
Aura replied by drifting a rather sharp turn. “Sorry.” The woman added her apology as an afterthought.  
  
“Is this even safe?” The resonator questioned, opening her eyes fearfully.  
  
”Don't worry, only 30,000 people die in car accidents per year.”  
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”  
“No, no, only thirty percent of those are from speeding.”  
“Again, is this supposed to make me feel better?”  
“No this is: of that, the driver dies fifty-two percent of the time, and passengers twenty percent of the time.”  
  
Blakki whined, leaning forward and covering her head with her hands. “You're not helping.” She desperately tried to find her happy place, but the jostling of the car drifting around another corner did not help in this endeavor.  
  
“Hey, it's Wednesday, twelve percent of car crashes happen on Wednesdays, the math is on our side”  
“I'm gonna die...”  
  
\---  
  
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
“Vinci, can you get the door?!” Sonia asked, washing some dishes in the back. It was about 11PM at night and the pair had just finished dinner after another had day of work. Needless to say the young entrepreneur was in a good mood after a productive day of business. The female maestro whistled a happy tune as she now scrubbed the dishes from their late dinner clean.  
  
“Sonia! It's Blakki!”  
“Huh? What do they want!?”  
  
There was a moment of silence  
  
“Shouri's been kidnapped!”  
  
The next second the sound of a plate shattering could be heard. “What?!” Sonia ran into the main room, to see a blonde-haired woman in a long sleeved white collared shirt and black dress pants. She had bright emerald green eyes, just like Shouri's. Next to her was Blakki, who was leaning on a chair, the resonator looked ill.  
  
Uneasily, Sonia stepped into the room proper. “Who are you?” She asked the unfamiliar woman.  
  
“My name is Aureolin Tomoshibi. Aura for short. I’m Shouri’s older sister.” The woman said, looking down at Sonia.  
  
“Nice to meet you. I'm Sonia Renoir.” The girl replied, holding out her hand. Aura shook the girl's hand quickly.  
  
“So what happened to Shouri?” Sonia asked, getting down to the core of the matter.  
  
Blakki explained the situation in detail to Sonia and Vinci, and clarified some of the details for Aura.  
  
Sonia folded her arms across her chest and glared at the ground, frowning hard in thought. “I think those woods Shouri had found you in would be the best place to look.” She suggested, looking back up at the fox-girl.  
  
“Yeah, that's what I was thinking. The man first showed up when Shouri and I lost against that scherzando. The sphinx was literally across the street from the woods.” The resonator explained, shifting uneasily in the chair she was sitting on  
  
Dropping her arms to her sides, the maestro smiled. “Yeah, we can probably get to Shouri. Two resonators should fare a bit better than just one, right?” Sonia asked, looking over at Blakki.  
  
“Uh, I hate to burst your bubble, but we're one resonator. I have no maestro right now, remember?” Blakki asked, raising an eyebrow. After all, it was the entire point of them planning this operation.  
  
“Yes you do.” Sonia blinked.  
  
“Eh? Shouri is my maestro.” Blakki frowned, folding her arms across her chest and tilting her head.  
  
“But I’m a maestro; I can command you the same way Shouri can.” Sonia pointed out.  
  
“Oh… I didn't think about it that way.” Blakki blinked.  
  
“Thought we might need to stop by Sahji’s to pick up a spare tuner…” She frowned. The extra stop would be necessary, but would overall take them more time that she wasn’t sure they even had at this point.  
  
“A spare tuner?” The fox girl tilted her head again. She reached into her pocket and pulled out Shouri’s tuner. “No need, here you go.” She said, holding out the device for Sonia.  
  
The only maestro in the room accepted the device but stared at it, perplexed. “Wait, how do you have this Blakki?” She decided to ask. Vinci stared at the second tuner, it was definitely Shouri’s tuner, and Sonia did raise a good point.  
  
“Right, I forgot about that part. I found it on the ground when I came to in the graveyard. I guess in the confusion Shouri must've dropped it for me.” Despite the situation, she was able to smile warmly.  
  
Sonia looked between the two devices, her own tuner, and now Shouri’s. She looked up at Aura for a moment, who stared back blankly, not really understanding the situation. The maestro shook her head rapidly. This would be difficult for her, now having two resonators to drain her rhythm, but she couldn’t awaken Aura’s rhythm. Doing that would put her in danger of being attacked by scherzando.  
  
And Sonia couldn’t do that to Shouri.  
  
“Alright, let’s go.”  
  
\-----  
  
It was all a blur. Fire, that was the last thing Shouri remembered. It taunted him even all these years later. Why was it a fire scherzando that showed up at that graveyard?  
  
Finally, after what seemed like hours, the maestro regained consciousness. Thought it was rather slowly, but it was some form of consciousness. The maestro began to take stock of his situation. His body felt weak. Maybe he was drugged? He was definitely in a bed. His eye lids were suspiciously heavy, he couldn’t open them.  
  
Then he noted his left arm was numb, and unusually cold. Though from what he could feel, there was some kind of wrappings or bandages on that arm, he wasn’t too sure without the visual stimuli to back up that theory.  
  
Given the situation he felt quite lucky to have some kind of cognitive thought for the moment. As he waited, he began to hear noises, it seemed his hearing was returning. A soft, slow beeping. It took him another moment, but he recognized it as a heart-rate monitor. The distressing part of the noise was it was a lot slower than he had been expecting.  
  
The only time he felt like this was when he had blood drawn after the accident those years ago.  
  
Someone drew his blood. Way more than needed to be done for testing, and way more than one would give for a donation.  
  
Who would want my blood? And why? These thoughts drifted around Shouri's head for a spell. He slowly regained enough strength to actually open his eyes. His heart sank immediately. He was in a dark room, there was a soft light from the heart monitor next to his bed. The moonlight from outside came through barred windows. The door was also barred shut. There was no feasible way to escape his current fate.  
  
Blink Blink.  
  
“Wh-who are you?” Shouri managed to gasp out (The beeping from his heart rate monitor intensified too). There was now someone standing over him, their face was uncomfortably close to his own.  
  
“Oh sorry. I didn't know you were awake.” The person withdrew. Upon closer inspection the person was a girl, teenager, possibly around Shouri's age. She had short, soft pink hair, tied up in a bun which sat on top of her head, near the back. Her eyes were a very prominent shade of yellow. She wore a long sleeved blue shirt, with a pink shoulder-less dress over that. She had black tights which covered her legs.  
  
“My name is Seven.” The girl bowed to Shouri.  
  
“Uh-huh, I'm-”  
  
“Shouri Zaffre Tomoshibi, Age nineteen, Blood type B Negative. Partnered with a Lunar-healing resonator known colloquially as “Blakki”. Your best friend and parents were killed in a tragic incident where your childhood home burned to the ground. Currently unemployed, though taking some online college courses. Currently living with your sister Aureolin Chartreuse Tomoshibi.” The girl recited almost robotically.  
  
“...WHO are you?” Shouri glared, though unnerved by the accuracy and depth of this girl’s knowledge of him  
  
“I am Seven; an Artificial resonator.”  
  
\---  
  
Blakki’s quartet walked through the woods. It was horribly dark. The town they lived in was small, surrounded on all sides by nature. It was a large city for such an isolated part of the country, but that being said, if you made it out of the safety of civilization, nature very rapidly asserted its dominance.  
  
“You didn’t have to come with.” Sonia told the non-maestro, non-resonator of the group.  
  
“Look, I might not be a magical cat-girl or whatever, but I’m gonna get my brother back.” The blonde-haired girl replied adamantly. This was something she wouldn’t back down on.  
  
Sonia nodded, though it was hard to see. “If things get dicey, you’ll need to leave. I don’t want to have to explain how I let his sister get hurt or worse.” She warned the non-combatant.  
  
The older woman trudged ahead. “I’ll be fine. You take care of yourself.” Aura replied, with a similar level of bravado that Shouri himself would show.  
  
This earned a sigh from Sonia as she stood with the two resonators that she currently had command of. “She’s definitely Shouri’s sister alright.”  
  
\---  
  
Seven sat in a chair she had found nearby. The lights in the room were still turned off, the only illumination was from the moonlight that shone in through the barred windows.  
  
“So why am I here?” Shouri asked, his gaze firmly affixed on the barred windows which signaled that escape would be difficult if not impossible.  
  
The enigmatic resonator only had a shrug to offer. “I dunno.”  
  
Turning his head, the maestro looked over to the yellow-eyed girl that was keeping him company for the time being. “But you seemed to know an awful lot about me.” Shouri frowned, folding his arms across his chest, being careful of his IV.  
  
“I wanted to find that information. You fascinate me Shouri.” The girl leaned forward, staring deeply into Shouri's eyes.  
  
“E-errr…” Unnerved by the way she stared at him, he adverted his gaze.  
  
Seven sat back in her chair, which helped Shouri relax if only a tiny bit. “I used to be human once.” The girl mentioned suddenly.  
  
“Once?”  
“Father told me that he changed me into a resonator.”  
  
The maestro digested that information for a moment before speaking “...That's horrible.” He finally decided upon.  
  
“I asked why he would do that. He avoids the subject. I think something bad happened to me.”  
“You don't remember?”  
“The process that revived me had the side effect of wiping my memories. I do not recall anything prior to being awoken in this body.”  
  
Shouri’s gaze fell to his lap. It was too depressing of a story to take in. “You might as well have died.”  
  
“One could argue the state of memories being related to one’s psyche. But I don't care about that. I care about you Shouri.” Seven said matter-of-factly.  
  
“Hmph.” His mood fouled slightly at that comment.  
  
A small smirk rose on the girl’s face. “Would you prefer if I called you Sho?” The artificial resonator asked.  
  
SMACK  
  
Shouri's hand was outstretched, a fierce glare on his face. He gritted his teeth in a pure rage, and his right eye twitched. “You are not allowed to refer to me like that.” Shouri growled. His hand ached from how hard he had swung it at its target.  
  
Seven’s face was turned from the force of the strike. Her face reddened slightly at the point of impact. “Ow.” Escaped her lips with almost a hint of sarcasm. She rubbed the side of her face where Shouri had struck her. “I apologize, I did not mean to offend you.” Seven stated. The spot where she had been hit glowed, and any marking of damage to her was gone just like that.  
  
Shouri sat on the side of the bed, he unhooked the IV from his arm and threw it off to the side. He had already removed the other cables which were attached to his body. “If you care about me so much, take care of that machine.” Shouri hissed, pointing at the heart monitor which was beeping very loudly because it did not have a heart to monitor.  
  
Rising to her feet, the resonator nodded. “Of course, it is quite loud.” With a couple of button presses the annoying machine was silenced.  
  
“Good, now get me out of here.” Was his next demand.  
  
“Er...” Seven looked down, a frown forming as she contemplated her next course of action.  
  
“I… I'm conflicted.” She chirped.  
  
“How so?” Shouri asked sarcastically, folding his arms across his chest again.  
  
“Father told me to watch you and make sure you don't cause trouble.” Seven started. Shouri rolled his eyes. “But I also want to help you, I do care about you.” She added.  
  
“You keep saying that. Why?” Shouri questioned, narrowing his eyes.  
  
“I can feel the rhythm from your body, it excites me.” Seven smirked, stepping towards Shouri.  
  
The boy gulped and began to step backwards. He didn’t like the way she said that. “I'm a maestro, you're a resonator, isn't that natural?”  
  
“No Shouri, I have met other maestros, they don't make me feel like this. My head spins with a sense of euphoria just being in your presence.” Seven breathed out. Shouri backed into the door. Seven put her hands on the door, effectively trapping Shouri.  
  
The resonator put her head near the maestro’s ear and whispered breathily. “You could... be my maestro instead… I'll run away with you... father will be so mad…”  
  
His heart hammered in his chest, a lump forming in his throat before he gave his answer. Finally, he gulped to give his answer. “N-No. I have Blakki.” Shouri breathed back, his face reddening slightly at the sudden advances of the resonator-girl.  
  
CLICK  
  
“Alright. I'll be waiting for you when you change your mind.” She spoke as if her becoming his resonator was a foregone conclusion. She pushed the door open from behind Shouri, allowing him to fall backwards into the hallway.  
  
“G-gah!” Shouri winced, for the second his eyes were closed, Seven had vanished.  
  
Staring back into the dark, empty room incredulously, he sighed. The boy stood up, dusting himself off.  
  
“Great. I have a stalker.”  
  
\-----  
  
Meanwhile, the rescue squad made it to the building in question.  
  
“God I really hope he is actually here, otherwise we’re walking into the lion’s den.” Sonia gulped as she looked up at the tall building that defied the nature all around it. On three sides there were deep woods, and to the east of the building was a long rapidly flowing river. In fact, the building looked dangerously close to the river. It didn’t seem very stable. One good flood would probably ruin the foundation and crumble the whole structure.  
  
Blakki stared up at the building. “He’s here.” She spoke up suddenly. The other three looked at the fox-girl. “I can feel him in there. I know he’s in there.” She nodded.  
  
“I trust Blakki.” Vinci chimed in. “We resonators receive our maestro’s commands and we fight on their behest. There’s a spiritual bond between us and our maestros.” The dog-boy waxed poetically to the group.  
  
“That’s fuckin’ weird. But whatever, I’m talking to magical cat girls, so I’m either on an awesome trip or I bet on the wrong horse with this accounting degree.” Aura laughed, shrugging the insanity off. “Alright what’s the plan?” She asked the more experienced trio.  
  
“Plan?” They all said in unison.  
  
An audible sigh left Aura’s lips. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance. “None of you thought about how we’re doing this? They’re probably armed you know.”  
  
Blakki shuddered. “Don’t remind me.”  
  
“So what the heck can you two do? What kind of magical powers do you have?” The blonde-haired girl asked.  
  
“Vinci can use Lightning, Nature, Fire, Earth, and Water spells. We haven’t gotten any Solar or Lunar spells. Blakki can use Lunar and Healing spells.” Sonia took inventory of what their fighting force had stock of.  
  
“Overload the generator.” Aura said suddenly.  
  
“The what?”  
“That.”  
  
“There’s no power lines leading to this building, and-” The oldest member of their group pointed at a generator that sat snugly near the building. It hummed away happily providing electricity to the building. “-there’s that thing. This building is totally off grid.”  
  
“Oh.” Sonia and Vinci blinked. They looked at each other then at the building. With a shrug, the solitary maestro issued her command:  
  
“Corrente Elettrica, Piano!”  
  
BZZZZZZ!  
  
Electricity had flowed from Vinci to the unsuspecting generator, after a moment of the extra current, the box began to spark, then shut down with smoke began to rise from the defeated device. The building went dark for a moment, then dimly lit back up.  
  
“They had a back-up?!” Sonia yelped, noting the power switching sources from the lights inside the building.  
  
“Let’s go!” Aura shouted, running from the cover of the underbrush towards the building.  
  
“W-wait Aura!” Blakki cried out, following after her maestro’s crazy sister. Sonia and Vinci were close behind.  
  
“The hell are you doing?!” Vinci barked at the non-combatant as they ran.  
  
Aura looked back as she was the first to reach the building. “Security drops significantly on reserve power. Only vital systems are maintained.” She told the rest of the group confidently.  
  
“It doesn’t stop you from being basically unarmed!” Sonia barked. They came to a stop just outside one of the doors leading into the building. They all stood there for a moment in silence. The rag-tag group of would be invaders listened for alarms since it should have been obvious at this point that the building was under attack. But there were no alarms.  
  
“Blakki, can you listen to see if anyone’s coming?” Sonia suggested. The fox resonator nodded and closed her eyes, her ears standing straight up. “Hmmm…” She turned her head back and forth. She opened her eyes after a moment, brows furrowed in confusion. “It’s… quiet.” The lunar resonator looked up at the building.  
  
“Are we SURE Shouri is here?” Aura asked for further clarification. “Si! Assolutamente! Cento per cento!” The lunar resonator shouted confidently, glaring at her maestro’s sister. “Okay okay, no need to turn on the Spanish.” Aura replied quickly.  
  
“It’s Italian.” Sonia corrected the elder woman.  
“I’m American, I barely know English, sue me for it.” Aura chuckled.  
“Not to get us back on track or anything, but can we focus?” Vinci chided the two women.  
  
Sonia nodded. “It seems safe enough.”  
“Seems.” Blakki spoke quietly. She was definitely on edge. Every moment they spent out here was a moment she was away from Shouri. Without another word, she pushed open the door and stepped into the building.  
  
The only sounds the fox resonator could hear as she walked through the building were the sounds of her allies behind her. They turned into another adjacent hallway and found something quite unexpected:  
  
“That’s-”  
“-a-”  
“-fucking SPHINX?!”  
  
The mythical creature stood in the way of the quartet. Its brilliant wings of light expanded as it made the motions of roaring; like all scherzando this was just a motion and no noise was actually produced.  
  
“Blakki, Nuvola Oscura Allegro!” Sonia shouted suddenly. A thick black cloud of smoke filled the hallway and obscured the enemy scherzando’s vision.  
  
“Vinci, you start with Ghiacciolo piannisimo Staccato!” The maestro gave the second command to her own resonator. That command modifier “staccato” was different, and Blakki didn’t recognize it. But she watched as Vinci began firing a volley out of the basic ice spell into the cloud of darkness that Blakki created.  
  
“Sotto!” Satisfied with the initial distractions, Sonia moved to end this decisively. “Vinci, Colpito da una Roccia Forte! Blakki, Luce Lunare Forte!” The maestro gave two more commands out. Her eyes went wide as soon as attack declaration was finished, her heart thumped hard as the massive energy was violently ripped from her body. Aura barely managed to catch the maestro as her knees gave out.  
  
Blakki and Vinci meanwhile moved as commanded. Vinci created a blade made of rock and held it in his hands for a moment before charging into the smoke. The lunar elemental meanwhile prepped a large ball of lunar energy and threw it ahead of her ally.  
  
The sphinx cleared the smoke just in time to see the blob of shadowy energy, but not quickly enough to avoid it. The creature dodged and avoided a vital hit from the ball of energy. But this put it in range of Vinci’s swing. The large stone blade was swung on the creature, Vinci using the momentum of his charge to add more power into the blow.  
  
The scherzando stumbled back but fired back a flurry of smaller balls of solar energy. The barrage was weak but achieved its intended effect of pushing back the pair of resonators, dealing extra damage to Blakki.  
  
The two resonators awaited their next commands. However, when they received none, they looked back. Aura held Sonia who was struggling to catch her breath. The tips of her hair were white. “V-vinci, C-colpito da-”  
  
“Stop it! You’re at your limit!” The resonator rushed over to his maestro. Blakki stared in horror. Sonia was on the brink. Her hair was turning white, she has used so much rhythm that it was practically turning her body to ash.  
  
Blakki gritted her teeth. Useless. As usual she couldn’t do anything. The sphinx was starting to regain its bearings after the initial assault. They had the right idea pelting it with relentless attacks, but with just one maestro they couldn’t maintain the level of damage to finish the job.  
  
“Porca miseria!” Aura, Sonia, and Vinci heard cried out. They looked up and saw Blakki charging the sphinx, just a mere girl with no magic backing her.  
  
“B-Blakki-!” Sonia wanted to shout a command but another wave of pain shot through her body, as even trying to establish a rhythm link was too much.  
  
The charging resonator didn’t care, she kept running forward, teeth gritted tightly as she curled up her fist and pulled it back. Right before she threw her fist her hands began to spark with purple energy and her eyes began to glow.  
  
“Togliti di mezzo! STRONZO!”  
  
WHAM  
  
The trio that was left behind felt a burst of wind or perhaps just raw energy rush down the hallway as the sphinx was flipped and landed on its back. “W-was that a spell?” Sonia asked.  
  
“No...” Vinci blinked, knowing very well what Blakki had said “I didn't realize she knew such... colorful language.” He commented.  
  
Aura sniffed the air as a new scent joined the sterile odor the hallways had. “What the heck?” Before any further commentary could be added the remaining trio witnessed thick black smoke, unlike the previously cast lunar spell, began to flood the hallway. “Wait! Blakki!” Sonia shouted.  
  
The fox-girl didn’t stop though, she just kept running down the hall and up a flight of stairs as the enemy scherzando began to disappear.  
  
“This fucking building is on fire?!” Aura barked, covering her mouth and nose with the sleeve of her jacket.  
  
“We have to get Blakki!” Sonia protested.  
  
SLAM  
  
A huge steel shutter slammed shut in front of them. “What the hell?!” Aura yelped.  
  
\-----  
  
Seven floated in a space illuminated by multiple images. Images from security cameras around the building. She watched as Blakki ran through the second floor, focused on her target.  
  
The yellow eyed girl looked down on the videos she was watching, paying special attention to where Blakki and Shouri were. Anyone else in the building was a non-issue for the time being. “He's happier with that fox-girl than me...” The girl muttered, waving her hand to the side. A console popped up next to the artificial resonator.  
  
“Feel my wrath, peasant girl.”  
  
SLAM THUD  
SLAM THUD  
SLAM THUD  
  
Huge metal doors began falling from the ceiling. Blakki looked back as she ran. Her more sensitive hearing intensified the noises made by the huge slabs of steel. She picked up the pace and tumbled into an open elevator. She smirked as she got to her feet and pressed number four on the panel. The door closed as the lift started to ascend.  
  
Just as the elevator reached the fourth floor, it stopped as it reached its destination. Blakki waited for the door to open, but it remained shut. She folded her arms across her chest, tapping her foot impatiently. After about a minute of this her brows turned up in concern. She tapped the open door button several times but got no response out of it. “Apriti! Maledetta, apriti!” She barked, tapping the button harder and harder.  
  
Suddenly the entire cabin shuddered. “Che?!” The vixen looked around in surprise. Then the distinct sensation of falling in the pit of her stomach as the cabin rattled and shook with her in it. Blakki fell to the ground as it slammed into the basement. “Owie...” She whimpered, getting to her feet again. Pressing the control panel buttons continued to yield no results. The door remained shut. She was trapped.  
  
However, the fox-girl refused to give up. She was so close to her dear maestro. “Sho...” She gritted her teeth. He wanted her to find him. She could feel that. But how did one get out of an elevator that refused to move?  
  
The buttons didn’t work, the door wasn’t moving, and the top looked pretty solid. The girl pressed her body against the door and tried to push. The door jostled slightly, but otherwise wouldn’t move. After a moment of struggle, she stepped back to catch her held breath. The girl began to lose hope as tears gathered in her eyes from frustration.  
  
“I just want Sho back...” She whimpered, her eyes darting back and forth, looking for some way out.  
  
 _“J-just… d-don't leave me... okay?”_  
  
His voice rang in her head. Her eyes narrowed as she re-gathered her determination. Pushing back her black bangs, she stepped towards the door and tried to push it to the side. What the young resonator didn’t notice was her own hands sparking with purple energy. The door groaned and creaked as it slowly moved aside to allow Blakki into the basement.  
  
It was filled with smoke, but she didn’t care. Her body moved, as if knowing what exactly it needed to do. She rushed to the stairs where the smoke was rapidly rising. The fox girl bounded up the stairs, skipping several steps at a time, her focus remained iron-clad. There was little that would stop her at this point.  
  
Finally, she burst onto the fourth floor. Despite having bounded up five stories worth of stairs, she still was able to pull in a lung full of air and shout: “SHOOOOO!” As loud as she could.  
  
“BLAKKI?!” Her ears twitched as she heard her name called. The pair continued shouting each other’s names until they caught sight of one another. They ran and met in the middle of the hallway, spinning as they embraced each other, refusing to let go.  
  
“I’m so glad to see you!” Shouri held his resonator at arm’s length. “How did you find me? Did you come by yourself?” He asked.  
  
“Sonia, Vinci, Aura, and I had a good feeling about you being here.” She told him, resisting the urge to push his arms away and continue to hug him.  
  
The boy blinked at the name that was unlike the others. “Wait, you brought Aura... here?” His expression was unreadable.  
  
Blakki folded her ears back as she started to panic a bit. “Er you left your tuner with me and she wanted to-!” A single finger placed over her lips silenced her. Shouri smiled.  
  
“We can talk about it when we’re out of here.” He spoke gently.  
  
The girl’s face lit up. She hugged him once again. “Sho!”  
  
Seven watched this scene unfold from the security cameras with great disdain. “...Hmph.” The girl folded her arms across her chest, taking inventory of the other security cameras. She noticed the environment around her was turning a distinct red color.  
  
“The servers are overheating. The fire must have reached the server room.” The artificial resonator’s gaze drifted back to the screen in front of her. Shouri was once again holding Blakki in his arms. This earned a grimace at the display of affection “...I'll make you mine Shouri.” Dismissing that dreadful screen, a wave of a hand opened a portal in space.  
  
Before moving through the portal Seven paused. She closed her eyes. “Father, are you alright?”  
  
A male voice would answer that call. “I'm of no concern. Has the data been wiped from the system?” The resonator heard in her head.  
  
“Yes father, just like you asked.” Her eyes remained closed as she responded.  
  
“Good. Make sure nothing survives that fire. I'll leave my laptop open for you.” The voice replied.  
  
With a malicious smirk, Seven opened her eyes. “I'll make sure it burns to the ground.” Her eyes locked on a floating control panel showing a now disabled sprinkler control system.  
  
\-----  
  
Thick black smoke poured out from the stairwell Blakki had used to reach the fourth floor. Most of the other paths were blocked by rapidly deteriorating infrastructure. “Uh-oh.” The resonator’s ears were folded back. It was obvious what was happening. She couldn’t keep it from Shouri.  
  
To say Shouri was nervous was the understatement of the century. He was doing everything in his power to fight the panic attack that was slowly tearing away at his psyche. “M-maybe the elevator shaft?” Blakki offered. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him around to the elevator. As soon as she placed her hand on the door to force it open, she jumped back. “Caldo!” She shouted, rapidly waving out her hands.  
  
Flames began to overtake the nearby wall. Blakki backed up into Shouri. She turned and grabbed his hand tightly. They needed to find another exit. The poor maestro was in full panic mode, muttering incomprehensibly.  
  
“I’m sorry Sho. I’m so sorry I was too weak to save you.” Blakki cried, burying her face in her maestro’s chest. Despite his out of control panic attack, Shouri wrapped his arms around his resonator. He didn’t speak a word, but he held her for their comfort in the rapidly declining situation. This seemed to be the end.  
  
And then among the sounds of the fire, and crumbling concrete, steel and wood there was a distinct and sudden sound:  
  
Glass shattering.  
  
Looking behind them, they saw the remains of a window which broke from the excessive heat and warping of the building. The pair just stared at the opening for a moment. “That's it!” Blakki pulled Shouri with her.  
  
“Wa-wait! We're gonna jump?!” Shouri yelped as they drew closer to the exit.  
  
“It's either we burn to death up here or potentially survive the fall somehow!” Blakki yelled back. The fire advanced behind them as they walked. Shouri descended into hysterics once again, not making any comprehensible sentences. Despite the horrible situation they were in the resonator maintained her composure (albeit just barely) “I'll protect you somehow! I promise!” She shouted to try and re-assure him as they neared the edge of the building.  
  
Aura, Sonia, and Vinci had their progress totally barred by the steel doors that Seven had been using to try and stop Blakki. They managed to get out of the building, and were now outside hidden amongst the trees. “Oh god, my brother is dead.” Aura held her head, eyes wide as the realization was now hitting her.  
  
“They'll make it out. They have to.” Sonia gulped, she folded her hands tightly, her knuckles white from the pressure she was applying on her own hands.  
  
Vinci stared at the generator, which was a smoldering pile and the obvious ignition source. “It's my fault.” He gritted his teeth, adjusting his hat to hide his eyes.  
  
Sonia grabbed her resonator by his shoulders. “No! It's mine, I gave the order. I could have come up with something else” She told the dog-boy.  
  
Interrupting the pity party, Aura pointed towards the building. “Someone jumped!” She shouted, having caught sight of a body throwing itself from the fourth floor.  
  
Shouri held Blakki in his arms as they fell. His eyes were closed tightly in fear. “We’re going to make it! I won’t let you get hurt!” Blakki practically screamed into the night. Despite the thick smoke from the building, the moon shone down on the pair, illuminating their fall into the darkness. What should have taken seconds felt like minutes as the pair drew closer and closer to the ground. The wind rushing past them, the sounds of the building collapsing nearby, the smell of the smoke. Blakki felt Shouri hold her tighter.  
  
“I trust you Blakki...”  
  
Aura, Sonia, and Vinci ran to where they saw the figures fall. They had to get through some thick underbrush and made it to another clearing close to the river. The black-haired fox-girl supported her maestro’s weight, as she trudged up towards the trio. She wore a confident, but exhausted smirk.  
  
“He was scared to death... But I protected him.” After all of that, her strength totally spent, she fell forward and joined her maestro in unconsciousness.


	14. Chapter 14

Blakki opened her eyes. She was laying in Shouri's bed. The fox-girl simply laid there, staring at the ceiling, trying to recall what happened last. Then it hit her: Last she remembered, she forced Shouri out a window with her and managed to get both of them out alive. She thought. She wasn't sure if he had actually survived the fall. She sat up quickly. The maestro wasn't anywhere to be seen.  
  
Creeping to the door and peeking out of the small crack between the door and its frame gave her a look out at the small dining/living room. Aura was sitting at the table, head buried in her arms. “Oh no.” Blakki muttered, pressing her back against the wall. Instantly, she jumped to the conclusion that Shouri was horribly injured or worse.  
  
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she shook her head. The only thing she could think of was how scared Shouri was and how she shouldn’t have forced him out of the window. She held the back of her hand on her forehead, which was trained up, eyes closed.  
  
“Having a problem?” Aura’s voice was suddenly right next to her.  
  
“YIEEEAH!” Blakki fell over into Shouri's laundry basket and tumbled to the ground, kicking up a large amount of his neglected clothing. “I will take that as a yes.” The older sibling blinked, looking down at his brother’s fox-girl.  
  
“Wh-where is Shouri?!” said fox-girl demanded, scrambling to her feet and wiping the tears from her face.  
  
Aura rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. “He went to the corner store to get me some aspirin, my head is killing me.”  
  
Those words were of great relief to the distraught resonator. Not only was Shouri awake, but he was okay enough to go to the store. She knew how over-protective Aura was of her brother, so if she sent him to the store, he had to be perfectly fine. That meant Blakki would need to address one more thing: “Uh. Aura..?” Blakki looked up.  
  
“Hm?" Aura frowned at the girl, looking down at her.   
  
The fox-girl fidgeted nervously under the pressure of the stare-down she was receiving. “D-don't tell Sho.. that I.. Love him..” She managed to choke out, her face completely red by this point.  
  
Aura continued to stare for a moment, trying to figure out what the heck this younger girl was talking about. It finally dawned on her. “Oh yeah, I forgot about that. It did make me stop killing you.” She commented. Blakki continued to stare down at her lap, remaining silent at that comment. “I haven't told him anything.” Aura clarified.  
  
She sighed in relief. “Good, thank you. I don't know how he feels about me.” Blakki muttered. “He told me about what happened to his friend and your parents. I don't know how he was with her.” The resonator admitted (with a tinge of pride).  
  
“Oh, he loved her. They were dating.”  
  
Blakki was crushed, those mere seven words were the worst combination of words she has heard in the past several weeks. She totally lost control of her emotions and the tears began to flow freely. “M-mi dispiace...” The girl sniffled, wiping her face with her jacket sleeve, it smelled terrible given what she had done to her jacket within the last twenty-four hours. “I just can't stop..” She couldn’t help her sobbing.  
  
The blonde-haired woman just stared. What kind of teenage drama was she living in? With a quiet sigh, she decided to speak up again. “He cares a ton about you.”  
  
“Huh?” Blakki looked up through her tears.  
  
“He opened up to you. Shouri might not think he does, but he had a bunch of friends before the incident.” Aura knelt down next to Blakki.  
  
“They tried to console him, and talk to him. But he shut them out. They were only trying to help. He refused them all and shut himself away.” Aura explained, recalling her brother’s shut-in life-style that followed the fire. “I thought Shouri was getting over his grief on his own. I was partly right.” Aura couldn’t help but smile.  
  
Blakki looked down again. She didn’t think she inspired that much change in him. He found her in a forest. He wasn’t much of a shut-in if he was gallivanting in the woods. “I'm not that great.” She sniffled.  
  
Aura reached out and ruffled the other girl’s hair. “You're fine. He'll be home soon.” She stood up. “Either way, I don't think Shouri will be chasing after other girls. So you have plenty of time.” Was Aura’s parting comment prior to her leaving the room.  
  
Needless to say, this reignited the rush of red color to Blakki’s face. “A-aspetta! What was that supposed to mean!?” She called out. She sighed and wilted again. Catching a whiff of her clothes, she grimaced at the scent wafting off of them.   
  
“Bleh, I need to wash my clothes and maybe myself.”  
  
\---------  
  
Blakki had made it into the bath before Shouri had gotten home. The fox girl soaked her body in a tub of steaming hot water. She shifted around and brought her tail up out of the water. She held it close to her face for a moment before she grimaced. “Blech, my tail still smells like lake water.” She kicked the drain stopper off of the drain and closed her eyes listening to the sound of the water draining.  
  
Finally, when the warm blanket of the water had fully exposed her body to the cold air around her, she opened her eyes. With a sigh, she pushed herself up to her feet, grabbing a shampoo bottle as she did so. “Here's to strawberry passion.” Blakki declared, turning on the shower to properly wash up.  
  
New problems awaited after her long-earned bathing however. Blakki walked out of the bathroom, once more sporting some of Shouri's clothes. There was a redness to her face that was not from her warm bath. “My tail...” The fox-girl whimpered to herself, looking behind her. Said tail was still damp, but because of the way normal human pants worked, she couldn’t pull them up all the way, hurting the base of her tail and nearly exposing private parts of her anatomy.  
  
“How does that work with your pants?” Aura asked, out of nowhere.  
  
“G-GEIYAH!” Blakki screamed, nearly doing a backflip. She ended up with her back against the opposite wall of the hallway, desperately attempting to catch her breath after her lungs were nearly frightened out of her body.  
  
This only earned an eye roll from the older woman. “Jeeze you're jumpy.” Came the comment.  
  
If Blakki's face wasn’t before, it was now completely red. “Mi dispiace…” The fox girl flattened her ears, apologizing for her slight over-reaction.  
  
A moment of awkward silence followed.  
  
“Soooo...” Aura turned her hand motioning for Blakki to actually explain.  
  
“R-right, the pants. Hahaha.” Blakki laughed nervously, re-adjusting the pants she was currently wearing up, as they were far too big for her. “My pants have a cut where I can put my tail, and then a button above that so that I can keep my pants up. From what I understand of where I came from, we don't change what we wear often, it's almost always the same style of clothes. Like some kind of identity thing. At least from what I’ve experienced.” She explained.  
  
That raised a new question however: “Where you come from?” Aura raised an eyebrow.  
  
A third voice interrupted the interrogation. “Another world.” Both girls turned and saw Shouri standing at the end of the hallway. He held a small white plastic bag and looked as stoic as ever.  
  
Like a puppy seeing its owner, Blakki unconsciously wagged her tail rapidly. “Sho!” She smiled brightly calling for her maestro as he approached the pair.  
  
Aura was a bit more interested in the fox girl than her brother. “Really now? Another world? So, you're an alien?” She looked over the foreigner in question. She looked human enough besides the ears and tail, it was easy enough to pass her off as a normal teenage girl.  
  
The way Aura addressed the situation however caused Blakki to wilt, and look away from the decidedly normal humans in the hallway with her. “I-I guess you could say that.” She muttered, looking away uneasily.  
  
“She doesn't remember anything about where she came from.” Shouri stated simply, he placed his hands on Blakki's shoulders. The fox-girl stared at the ground.  
  
“I see...” Aura replied, looking away quickly. Based on the way Blakki reacted her status as a magical fox girl seemed to be a sore subject for her. The older woman had enough social awareness to see that. Not knowing what else to say, there ended up being an awkward silence.  
  
Deciding to exit the situation, Aura quickly deflected. “SO! How about that aspirin?!” She shouted suddenly.  
  
“Here.” Shouri replied, holding up the small bag for his sister.  
  
“Excuse me.” Aura fled from the scene, taking the bag with her.  
  
Satisfied with his sister’s departure, the young maestro turned to his resonator. “You okay?”  
  
Blakki turned and buried her head into her partner's chest. She grabbed his shirt and gripped the fabric tightly a she kept her vision trained down. “Sho...”  
  
“Bl-Blakki?” Shouri blinked, looking down at the girl. The sudden closeness disarmed the young adult.  
  
She looked up and smiled warmly at him. “I don’t need my memories. You're all I need, Sho...”  
  
The poor boy felt his felt his heart drum a steady, rapid beat in his chest. “...y-yeah...” Shouri breathed out.  
  
\---  
  
That night  
  
“And that’s what happened huh?” Shouri digested the info he was just provided by Blakki; who had recounted the entire trial in the tower. The fox girl nodded. “It was so strange there was no one there.” She frowned recalling how she heard absolutely nothing when standing outside of the tower. “What about you Sho, did you see anyone?”  
  
The boy stroked his chin in thought. “There was someone who was watching me.” He said simply. “Ah figured.” Blakki nodded in agreement. “Where did they go?” The resonator inquired.  
  
“Dunno. They vanished after opening the door for me.” He shrugged.  
  
Before Blakki could further pursue that line of questioning, Shouri’s phone began buzzing violently. “Who is it?” The fox-girl asked, very familiar with the buzzing of the device from the many telemarketers who sought to interrupt her precious web browsing time.  
  
“Sonia.” Shouri frowned. Hesitantly he answered the call.  
  
“Hey what’s up?” He spoke immediately.  
“Turn on the news!” Sonia shouted  
  
Blakki could even hear that declaration. Shouri offered a shrug and with that, the two shuffled out into the living room. Holding the phone up with his shoulder, he grabbed the remote off the table and flipped the TV on.  
  
They stood there for a few minutes just listening to the reporter drone on about nothing.  
  
“So, what am I supposed to be seeing?” Shouri decided to inquire.  
“Nothing seems out of the ordinary?” Sonia asked back.  
“No, just something about the president being at the opening of a new water park in Idaho… for some reason. Slow news day I guess.”  
“Isn’t that strange?”  
  
The maestro frowned. Sonia was getting at something but what?  
  
It then hit him. “Wait, what the fuck?” Shouri flipped to several other news channels.  
  
“What’s wrong?” Blakki tilted her head.  
“There’s NOTHING.” He told her.  
  
“I don’t get it, what do you mean?” The fox-girl fretted; brows raised in concern that she didn’t understand.  
  
“Blakki, a huge building in the middle of the forest burned down! Surely that has to be AT LEAST local news!” Shouri unintentionally shouted. The resonator lit up. “Oh! That IS weird!” She exclaimed.  
  
“I checked a bunch of news sites too; nobody is talking about it. It’s not even on social media.” Sonia chimed in from the phone.  
  
Silence as the news droned on in the background.  
  
“What does this mean Sho?” Blakki bravely spoke up.  
“I dunno Blakki… I dunno.” Shouri muttered.


	15. Chapter 15

Roughly a week had passed since the incident in the woods. Life had returned to some sense of normalcy for the Lunar elemental resonator and her maestro. This evening had them in a new part of town, chasing a fleeing scherzando.  
  
“Damn, why is it running?!” Shouri barked between breaths.  
  
“Maybe because it knows we want to beat it up?!” Blakki managed to get out. She seemed to have been in better shape than Shouri when they first met, but given their nightly battles, the out of shape maestro was slowly catching up  
  
“I’m stopping! Let me know when you get close!” But he certainly wasn’t in peak physical condition yet. The boy came to a stop, holding himself up on his knees, catching his breath. Blakki darted ahead, in pursuit of their target. “Fuck, I am _not_ made for this.” Standing up straight after a moment, he drew his tuner from his side and pressed the listen button.  
  
“Almost there!” He heard from the device between breaths.  
  
“Mente Offuscata, Forte!”  
  
He waited a moment.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Piano!”  
  
“Beccato!” Her voice rang out from the device. “I got it Sho!” She clarified a second later.  
  
The boy smiled. He pressed the talk button down and stretched his back before actually responding. “Alright, I'll be over there in a second.” Shouri released the talk button.  
  
“Shouri?” A voice asked.  
  
“Huh?!” The maestro spun around to see another boy standing there. He had short messy black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a blue vest over a black t-shirt. He wore dark blue, knee-length shorts. He was holding a plastic bag, obviously just coming back from a convenience store.  
  
Immediately the maestro was on edge. His free hand clenched into a tight fist, with the grip around his tuner was strong enough to cause his knuckles to turn white. Finally, he addressed the interloper: “You.” Shouri stepped back.  
  
The black-haired boy did his best to smile warmly and step towards the practically growling maestro. “Shouri, long time no see. What are you doing out here?” The boy asked.  
  
“Leofwine.” Shouri gritted his teeth, glaring daggers at the male he was addressing.  
  
Undeterred the newcomer on the scene still gave a smile. “Shouri, ever the serious. I told you, call me Leo, we're friends, remember?” He took another step forward into the light of a nearby streetlamp.  
  
Shouri retreated further into the darkness of the street, continuing to face the black-haired interloper. “Stay away! You were never my friend. You all just associated with me because of her. And now she's dead.” Shouri growled with excessive vitriol.  
  
Leo took exception to that, his own expression hardening into a glare. “Hey! C'mon, I know it hurts but we can help!”  
  
“Keep away from me. I-”  
  
Another voice interrupted their reunion: “Sho! Sho! Where are you?!”  
  
A soft female voice rang out from the device in Shouri’s hand. Both young adults looked at the device. Leo looked perplexed. It wasn’t a phone Shouri was holding. It looked like some kind of fancy scientific instrument. But someone’s voice came from it? Furthermore, it was a girl’s voice, and not one Leo recognized.  
  
Seizing the moment of confusion, Shouri turned and ran. “Wait! Shouri!” Leo reached out for Shouri, but allowed his arm fall back to his side. “Whose voice was that? It couldn't be...” He stared down at the ground, lost in thought. He looked up at the clear, moonlit sky. “Lina… she’d want us to keep trying to help him.”  
  
The next morning  
  
Leo walked to school, per his daily routine, he was wearing his usual school attire; white collared shirt, untucked, and black dress pants. Despite being a freshman in college he was “stuffy” in that regard and chose to remain business casual.  
  
A girl walked next to him, she had soft brown hair, tied up in a ponytail. Unlike Leo, she chose more casual clothing, for comfort. “But yeah, it was weird Amika, he was drenched in sweat, and out of breath. It was the middle of the night.” Leo continued on, recalling the story of how he had seen Shouri the previous night.  
  
“Anything else stand out?” The girl asked, adjusting the bag on her shoulder as they walked.  
  
“A voice came from this phone thing he was holding, it was a girl.” Leo stated.  
  
That was odd. A girl’s voice? With Shouri of all people? Amika came to a stop, Leo stopping and turning to her “Hang on.” She folded her arms across her chest, glaring at the ground as if it would suddenly produce an answer. “What did the voice say?” She decided to probe further.  
  
Leo himself hummed in thought, closing his eyes trying to remember exactly what Shouri had said. “Uhh, I was standing a little bit away from him, ‘cause he kept backing up. I think it said: Sho, where are you? He then ran off right after that.” Leo replied. As soon as he opened his eyes, Amika grabbed his wrist and began pulling him in the opposite direction of their college.  
  
“Amika! What are you doing?!”  
“We're skipping class Leo, we need to find out what's happening to Shouri.”  
“God damn it woman, again?!”  
  
Click Click Click  
  
The two stopped in place; there was a man leaning up against a wall, he had short messy brown hair. He was wearing black sunglasses. He wore a black suit with a tie and black dress pants. In his hand was a USB thumb stick, the source of the clicking. He was uncapping it and re-capping it with his thumb. Amika and Leo slowed to a walk as they walked by the man.  
  
Click.  
  
The man pushed himself off the wall. The two young adults gulped, trying to mind their own business. They walked past the man, keeping their eyes trained forward. “Your friend is playing a dangerous game; you best not get involved.” They heard the man say from behind them.  
  
“The hell?!” The pair yelped in unison. It wasn’t what the man said that had elicited their surprise. It was the fact that he was now completely gone.  
  
Meanwhile, Shouri and Blakki were walking down the city streets, Blakki sporting her gatsby and jacket wrapped around her waist look.  
  
Blakki looked bothered however. She came to a stop as she finally gathered her thoughts. “Sho, can we talk?” The fox girl spoke up suddenly.  
  
“Eh?” Shouri stopped and turned to his resonator. She didn’t look him in the eyes and stared down as she spoke.  
  
“It's about the other night, at the lab place or whatever.”  
  
Shouri shuddered, (he immediately recalled being forced out the window). “What about it?”  
  
“Welllll-” She paused to figure out how to articulate what she wanted to say. “-I did something I didn't know I could do.” Blakki decided on, a frown forming on her face as she wracked her brain over the events of that night.  
  
“What did you do? I didn’t see any new spells after that.”  
  
“I don’t think it’s a spell, or maybe it is.” She shook her head. The girl doubted whatever she was thinking, however she continued to speak her mind in a hope that Shouri would have an explanation. “Well maybe. I really dunno, it was before when I was trying to find you. I could feel your thoughts, your presence, I knew exactly where you were at.”  
  
This earned a frown from Shouri himself. He didn’t doubt what Blakki was saying, but he didn’t really have an explanation either. “I dunno. Maybe it's some kind of bond thing between maestros and resonators?” He pondered out loud.  
  
Blakki looked up, there were another thing she wanted to talk about: “And another thing I've been having these weird dreams-”  
  
“SHOURI!” A female voice shouted suddenly. Shouri and Blakki turned around to see two adults around their age standing there. Shouri recognized them immediately as Amika and Leofwine which instantly put him on edge.  
  
The foreign fox-girl would have no idea who these people were and what they wanted with her maestro. “Who are they?” Blakki asked pointing at the two newcomers.  
  
The maestro in question grabbed his partner’s hand. “They're nobody, let's go.” Shouri scoffed, deciding on the best escape route.  
  
Amika rolled her eyes, and smiled in annoyance. Some things never changed and that was true of Shouri. “Nobody? C'mon Shouri, we're your friends.” She was currently resisting the urge to throw her schoolbag into the boy's head.  
  
Some things never changed it seemed. Shouri re-focused his attention at the pushy (now) adults. “Go away.” His glare was unflinching.  
  
However, Amika didn’t appreciate the machismo. “Shouri Tomoshibi!” She barked out as if she was his mother. She stepped forward, returning the glare. Before Shouri could reply Blakki stepped forward and held her arm out in front of her maestro defensively.  
  
“He doesn't want to talk to you, go away.” Blakki growled, glaring as if she was facing down a scherzando. She could feel her tail bristle up in anger, luckily it was somewhat hidden.  
  
Amika stepped back in surprise. It wasn’t that she didn’t notice the other girl, but she had totally forgotten Blakki’s presence after negotiations broke down. “Don't give up.” Leo muttered to Amika.  
  
She nodded and stepped forward, regaining her composure. Blakki was the foreign element here. “Who are you anyways?!” Amika barked.  
  
Blakki smirked, almost pitying these fools.  
  
“I'm Blakki, and I’m Shouri's partner.”

Amika and Leo stared at the Gatsby wearing girl in confusion. Her brazen declaration setting in as they tried to process what she had just said.  
  
“Part-ner?” Amika narrowed her eyes in confusion, still trying to understand what the strange girl was saying. She spoke in plain English, but the use of “partner” was confusing. She looked to Shouri to see what his thoughts were on this claim. The former friend in question kept a persistent glare, no go there.  
  
Before any further interrogation could be done, Shouri made his move.  
  
“Come on Blakki, let’s go!”  
“Right!”  
  
The lunar pair turned and ran away heroically.  
  
“Wait no!” Amika shouted. She stood in place and watched the duo run away.  
“Good job.” Leo added sarcastically after the other pair was out of sight.  
Amika glared at her partner in crime. “Shush you. You did nothing to help.”  
  
“Well, obviously we have to follow them.” Leo motioned for the girl to follow.  
  
“But stalking is wrong.”  
“But skipping school is a-ok?”  
“At least we’re not in high school anymore”  
  
It didn’t take long for Amika and Leo to find their quarry. They would follow Shouri and Blakki around town (at a safe distance), noting they just seemed to be doing a lot of window shopping.  
  
“There's something strange about that girl.” Amika huffed as they hid in an alleyway.  
  
“You're only saying that because the girl's name is weird.” Leo replied, peeking around the corner to keep track of their targets.  
  
“No! She's with Shouri and that's wrong.” Amika growled.  
  
“You sound jealous.” Leo stated, ducking back into the alley and looking over to his friend.  
  
She shook her head in denial. “It's not that. Shouri seemed to rebound way too fast. There has to be something about that girl. Something weird.” Amika narrowed her eyes. “I mean it’s been two years.” Leo shook his head. Amika would ignore this and continue her stakeout.  
  
Something else came to mind though after Leo took a moment to think this over. “Maybe what that man said earlier.” His gaze drifted over to Amika, hoping she shared his train of thought.  
  
Her expression softened slightly. “Your friend is playing a dangerous game.” She repeated under her breath.  
  
The black-haired man nodded. “The girl that showed up out of seemingly nowhere, and his unusual attachment to her. He was only like that with Lina.” Leo continued.  
  
Amika panicked running her fingers through her hair. “Oh god! She must be the daughter to some mafioso or something!” And her overactive imagination got the better of her. Leo opened his mouth to point out how stupid that was when another voice reached their hiding spot.  
  
“Shouri! You're leaving already?”  
  
The hidden duo peered out the alleyway and saw Shouri and Blakki walking away from a shop, a red-haired girl waving to them. The girl in question walked back into the shop a moment later. Walking out of the alleyway, Leo and Amika looked at each other and nodded, deciding their next course of action wordlessly.  
  
The two stalkers walked into the shop. The red-haired girl was notably absent. “Hello, welcome to Renoir's!” A younger boy greeted the newcomers to the shop. He had mostly brown hair with splotches of black and white, which was topped off with a beret. There seemed to be animal ears poking out from under the hat. A long skinny tail poked out from behind him.  
  
Based on the wide variety of clothes and other outfits around them, neither of the would-be patrons thought anything of the odd shop keeper that greeted them. “Nice costume.” Amika commented plainly.  
  
The boy smiled warmly. “Oh you like it? You can find many more here, please look around. Let me know if you need anything.” He returned to the counter in the back where he seemed to be working on a piece of clothing  
  
The two window shoppers browsed the many aisles of custom-made clothing. It was all obviously hand-crafted, but the oddest thing was that even though these were highly elaborate custom pieces, there were many copies of them in various sizes. Nothing else really stood out though. “Why was Shouri here with that girl?” Amika whispered to Leo.  
  
“I don't know? Maybe they’re customer’s here.” Leo whispered back.  
  
“Yes, you could say they were customers.” The tan-haired boy said from the counter.  
  
Leo and Amika looked at each other in shock, both thinking how could that strange boy could hear them when they were whispering among the clothes.  
  
\-----------  
  
Finding no leads at Renoir’s the pair had left and just walked down the streets aimlessly. “Well that was really weird.” Amika muttered, still thinking about the strange younger shop keeper.  
  
“It's like those ears were real.” Leo pointed out, thinking about how quiet they were being previously.  
  
Amika waved off her friend’s crazy theory. “Naahhh, it's a costume shop, c'mon.”  
  
”You're probably right. Though we’re still nowhere near figuring out what the heck is going on. And we missed a day of classes”  
  
The (now failed) stalkers stopped in place when another strange person stepped into their path. He had short blond hair, with striking red eyes that observed the pair of young adults in their sight. His silver robes seemed to have a lovely sheen that accentuated the gold trimmings that decorated his clothing. Most notably were the sleeves and pants which had a star scape-like pattern that slowly faded into the silver.  
  
Needless to say, the staring unnerved the two college students. “Hmmm.” The red-eyed observer hummed in thought, looking over his prey. His eyes narrowed.  
  
Amika held her ground, but it was clear that the gaze they were receiving was getting to her. “Uh, can we help you?” She spoke up.  
  
“Your rhythm is just like Sh-” The boy stopped himself, stepping back from the two.  
  
Leo folded his arms across his chest, his lips lowering into a frown. “Excuse me?” Leo asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
The mysterious silver-clad boy shook his head. “My apologies.” He motioned to the store-front they were standing near. “Come into my shop, if you so wish.” As soon as the invitation was extended, he vanished into the store.   
  
Looking up at the sign that hung so proudly over the storefront revealed the name of the establishment in question: “Sahji’s Psychic Consultation Service”  
  
“Sahji? I guess that’s this guy then.” Leo blinked, perplexed at the strange way this supposed psychic attracted customers. He couldn’t necessarily fault the results though; he was curious now.  
  
“That guy was about to say Shouri, I know it.” Amika clenched her fists tight.  
  
Leo’s gaze shifted over to his companion. He stared at her incredulously. “Amika, the world doesn't revolve around Shouri and his everyday life.”  
  
Despite the logic in her life telling her otherwise, Amika had already made her spot decision: “We're going in Leo.” She stated adamantly, ignoring Leo's protest and dragging him in.  
  
The two stood in a dark store, dimly lit. It was decorated like a cafe, but without the cheer and coffee one would expect. Sahji sat in the back, behind a table, with a crystal ball in the center of the table. “Welcome to Sahji’s, come take a seat.” The boy motioned to the cushions in front of his table.  
  
Amika and Leo looked at each other and nodded. They walked up to the table and set their bags down next to the table before sitting down on the cushions. “I am Sahji, the Wish Sage. As commanded by my master, I am on this plane as an adviser to maestros.” Sahji began one of his trademark explanations.  
  
However, the lost duo were not impressed by the theatrics and were just plain confused. “What.” They both spoke in a flat tone.  
  
Sahji smiled regardless, closing his eyes. “Your friend Shouri carries a deep grief. My master is very generous, and has granted him a great power.”  
  
“What are you talking about? Master? Don't fuck with us kid. If you even think about hurting Shouri.” Amika growled, slamming her hands on the table.  
  
Leo, glanced over at his friend and sighed. Her machismo in this situation was probably unneeded. This guy seemed to like to hear himself talk, or at least that was Leo’s impression of this “Wish sage”.  
  
“Who IS your “master” anyways?” The more level-headed of the two decided to ask, resting his head on his arms, which were folded on the table. He stared at the swirling shapes in the crystal ball as he spoke.  
  
As Leo suspected, Sahji would answer any questions they provided him. “My master is Lord Civeo. He gave us sages the sandbox you call reality and allowed us to shape it per our functions.”   
  
“Cievo?” Leo raised an eyebrow. Was this some kind of crazy new religion? It sure sounded like it. Maybe it was some kind of weird sales pitch exclusive to this “shop”  
  
SLAM  
  


The other visitor wasn’t so willing to play Sahji’s game however. Amika stood up, having slammed the table in frustration. “Listen up kid, you better start making some sense before I-” Amika reached out to grab Sahji’s robes. Her hands stopped in place. “What the-?” The girl blinked, now totally unable to move.  
  
“I wouldn't do that girl. While _she_ was a Lunar elemental and could resist my power, you do not have such a luxury.” Sahji sneered at Amika.  
  
Defying gravity itself, the now panicked girl was lifted into the air, before being thrown several feet away by an unknown force. “Amika!” Leo scrambled to his feet, rushing over to his fallen friend. “What are you?” He asked, looking back at Sahji.  
  
“I am a simple sage of balance.” His previous sneer had faded and returned to his seemingly omnipresent, whimsical smile. “And you two are but mere mortals.” Amika and Leo glared at Sahji gritting their teeth. “Mortals with the potential to pull a tuner.”  
  
The harsh glares dropped in favor of perplexation. “Tuners?” Amika got off her rear and stood up.  
  
“Yes, I see it within you two. Bright rhythm that lay latent, waiting for the right partner. Maestros of your caliber would have no problem taking hold of a tuner that lay in here.” Sahji mused, looking down at his crystal ball.  
  
While Leo was skeptical of the odd phrasing and terms being thrown around, his more bull-headed friend saw things differently. “Heh, that sounds like a challenge to me.” Amika smirked, cracking her knuckles as she stared the sage dead in the eyes.  
  
“Perhaps it is.” Sahji drew a small circle on top of the ball with his finger.  
  
“Then I accept your challenge.” She walked up to the table, Leo scampering after.  
  
“Amika, think about this for a second. This is a crystal ball, a solid object, you can't possibly think to stick your hand in it. It’s gotta be a trick.” Leo tried to reason with the girl.  
  
She looked to her friend. Rather than being met with an angry glare or scowl, he was met with pleading eyes. “Leofwine, don't you want to know what is happening to Shouri?”  
  
That was disarming. “F-fine. Let’s play along then.”  
  
Leo and Amika both reached out for the crystal ball. Their eyes went wide as their hands slipped inside of the ball. They both felt something forced into their grasp. The duo quickly yanked their hands out from the orb.  
  
“What the-?!” Leo yelped, seeing a mysterious piece of electronics that he hadn’t ever seen before.  
  
“The heck is this thing?!” She yelped, having a similar styled device. Both devices were made up of some kind of weird clear plastic material and were powered off. None of the four face buttons did anything to awaken the devices.  
  
“They will not activate until you find your partners.” Sahji advised.  
  
“Partner...” The two looked down at their new tuners.  
  
“As that man told you, this is a dangerous game. Your lives could be forfeit.” The sage giggled.  
  
Leo looked up from the non-functional tuner. Did this person know that man that they had briefly saw on the street?  
  
“...What...” He stared in disbelief.  
“Die...?” Amika gulped, also staring at her own Tuner in disbelief.  
  
Sahji though, had done his job and these two were in his way. “Now get! I have to sweep.” Walking over the table, he began to force the pair out of his shop despite the many protests of patrons of said shop. The door slammed behind them and the latching of a lock signaled they were now barred from re-entry  
  
Amika looked back the now closed shop. A realization his her: their schoolbags were still inside. “Wait our-” The door opened suddenly and the duo's schoolbags flew out unceremoniously. The door slammed shut again. “Thanks.” She said flatly, looking down at her schoolbag which had just been haphazardly tossed out like garbage.  
  
Picking up his own bag, Leo dusted it off and sighed. “I'm going home, today’s been too long.” He began to walk away.  
  
The brunette still stared at the tuner she held. “Y-yeah, me too. Call me if something's up.” She decided on. There was something about this device that just felt right. Hopefully it would turn on soon so she could figure out what it was.


	16. Chapter 16

Since she had skipped classes the previous day Amika thought better of making a habit of it and actually attended her morning classes. While the rest of the class filed in, the impatient college student fiddled with the tuner she had been granted the day prior.  
  
Despite twelve or so hours of being unusable, the device remained non-functional. There were no screws or even any seams she could see to exploit. The device was solid. The screen itself could take quite a beating as she had made several noticeable dents on the corner of her desk trying to break it in any meaningful way.  
  
“Hey Amika, is that one of those virtual pets?” A female student asked Amika, having noticed the device as she was talking by  
  
The holder of said device looked it over. “Oh this?” She frowned. It did look like one of those vintage electronic pets that were all the rage when she was a kid.  
  
“Yeah. It looks pretty high tech.” The other girl noted.  
  
“Oh I got it from-” The brunette stopped. Did she really want to blurt out that a psychic with seemingly magical powers made her put her arm into a crystal ball, where the device then appeared in her hands?  
  
Nope! Time for lying!  
  
“-the Internet.” Amika added quickly.  
  
“What website?”  
“Some Japanese site. Very exclusive.” She continued her lie, hoping that her classmate would drop it.  
  
This earned a frown. “I see.” The other student grumbled, walking away from Amika's seat.  
  
Leo walked up and sat next to his friend. “Hey.” He said, setting his bag on the desk and taking out a laptop.  
  
“Yo.” Amika waved back. She pocketed the tuner for the moment. Which didn’t go unnoticed by Leo  
  
“Still got yours I see.” He commented, flashing his own tuner.  
  
“Yeah. Why would I throw it away?”  
“I dunno. It's all still so weird.”  
  
There was a moment of silence between the two as they both got ready for class. “I tried looking up all of the stuff Sahji mentioned yesterday.” Leo told his companion.  
  
“Oh? What did you find?”  
“Absolutely nothing. Except Sahji was apparently the name of an exotic belly dancer from the 1940’s”  
  
Amika couldn’t help but snort with laughter at that revelation. She’d have to mention that the next time she met the sage. It’d totally be worth getting thrown across the shop for. The smile faded from her lips however. The trivia about Sahji was funny and all, but the fact that there was no info about tuners at all was suspicious. That bothered Amika along with  
  
 _“Your friend is playing a dangerous game; you best not get involved.”_  
  
The more she thought about it, the more her heart raced. A man in a suit warning them not to involve themselves in this, and then they willingly threw themselves into the fire.  
  
 _“Hey ‘mika?”  
“Yeah Lina?”  
“Promise me something.”  
“Oh? What’s that?”  
“If something ever happened to me, can you promise me you’ll be there for Shouri?”  
“That’s awfully grim for you.”  
“He’s such a fragile boy, I’m afraid he might do something stupid if I’m gone.”  
“Lina, you’re seventeen, what the hell do you think will happen?”  
“You never know ‘mika”_  
  
Amika sighed in resignation. Her late friend had a weird sense of intuition like that. As it turned out, since she wasn’t there Shouri DID in fact get himself involved with something stupid.  
  
“You okay Amika?” Leo snapped his fingers in front of his friend’s face.  
  
“Y-yeah, just thinking that it’s weird how there’s nothing about this stuff. I doubt we’re the only ones that have ever had these things.” She deflected slightly. That thought was true, but it wasn’t the only thing she had on her mind.  
  
A hum in thought and then a nod. “I agree. Let's see if we can find Shouri after school. Maybe with these he'll be more willing to hear us out.” Leo mused aloud. “I did notice him holding one when I found him out in the street that night.” He added, thinking back to two nights ago.  
  
“I wonder if that girl is linked to these things.” Amika pondered. At that point, the professor of their class called for attention. This conversation would need to wait until their classes were done.  
  
\---  
  
“ACHOO!”  
  
Shouri stared blankly, recovering from his sneeze. “I read online that you sneeze when someone is talking about you.” Blakki noted, laying on Shouri's bed with his phone.  
  
He looked over at his resonator. “Didn’t take you for the superstitious type. Probably that man in the suit knowing my luck.” Shouri sniffled. He grabbed a tissue from a box that lived on his desk and blew his nose.  
  
“Probably, I wonder what they wanted with you.” The fox-girl shuddered, sitting up on the bed. “You said they took a lot of your blood that night?”  
  
Shouri turned back to his computer, continuing to read the article he had been skimming through. “Yeah, but I don't know how it could be useful to them. And honestly, that’s the scariest part.” The maestro sighed, clicking into the next article to read on  
  
The resonator flattened her ears as she wilted from her maestro’s concern. “Well, we will probably find out soon, unfortunately.” She hugged her tail. “I'm just so afraid of what they can do.” Blakki closed her eyes and held them tightly shut as if the man in the suit was in the room with them. “That man beat me so easily last time. I was powerless…” She opened her eyes slowly, trembling in fear of her own memories.  
  
Suddenly her ears pointed straight up and she was at attention. “Speaking of bad memories.” Blakki’s head turned towards the window.  
  
Shifting his focus to his resonator he sighed, he knew what that look meant. “Now? It’s daytime”  
  
Blakki nodded slowly. “This is gonna be annoying.” Shouri stood up from his chair, turning off his computer monitor.  
  
Shouri and Blakki ran down the street, the resonator leading the way. Every turn she took caused a tinge of annoyance to rise in the maestro. “Oh god please don't let it be there.” Shouri muttered as they ran closer and closer to their destination. Blakki noticed her maestro’s growing discomfort as they approached their destination.  
  
“Sho, andrà tutto bene. I'm sure this scherzando won't be so bad.” She offered nervously. Shouri remained quiet. The girl would curse her own lack of self-confidence, thinking that she was affecting her maestro.  
  
The pair stopped in front of the gates to a large college campus. Given most classes were in session, there were only a few people wandering about. “It's here.” Blakki panted, pointing inside the school gates.  
  
“God damn it, of course its here.” The boy groaned in annoyance.  
  
Blakki raised an eyebrow and looked over at her partner. “Why, what's wrong with this school?”  
  
“You remember those two kids from yesterday?”  
“Oh yeah, THEM.”  
  
Blakki folded her arms across her chest and looked away bitterly. “They go here, right?”  
  
“You got it.”  
“We can let the school burn to the ground, right?” The fox-girl asked jokingly, adjusting her hat on her head.  
  
The ground answered this by shaking wildly, throwing the two off their feet. “Owie…” Blakki whimpered, pulling her tail out from under her and nursing her wounded pride.  
  
“Let's say no this time. Whatever is causing that could seriously damage the town if left unchecked.” Shouri explained, getting to his feet rather quickly.  
  
With a sigh of resignation, Blakki stood up. “Yeah I know”  
  
The maestro patted his partner’s back. “We have no choice; we need to find that scherzando. Let’s go!” With that declaration, Shouri ran onto the campus.  
  
“A-aspetta! Sho!”  
  
Click Click Click  
  
The man in the black watched the two young adults run into the school from across the street. He continued his habit of popping on and off the lid of his flash drive.  
  
“We need to be careful.” Shouri muttered as they slowly crept around the campus, trying not to draw attention to themselves (and failing).  
  
Blakki herself was on high alert, waiting for their enemy to show themselves. “Yeah, the scherzando could be anywhere.” She breathed out.  
  
“Forget the scherzando, someone could see us.”  
“Priorities.” Blakki rolled her eyes, smiling.  
  
The two walked into the greenhouse that was on campus. There were no students around, probably due to the small tremors that occurred only moments ago. Despite it all, the plants that were so tenderly cared for by the students and staff remained undisturbed.  
  
“It smells nice in here.” Blakki stepped ahead, closing her eyes. Shouri stopped and watched the girl in awe. She seemed to flutter between flowers before twirling in place and stopping, facing her maestro. Closed eyes appreciated the environment around them.  
  
The maestro could do nothing but stare, bewitched by the carefree movement of the girl before him.  
  
The picturesque dream had to end however, as Blakki turned and trained her gaze up. A giant moth shaped scherzando made from rock beat its stone wings, defying all logic and remaining in flight.  
  
“Is that..?”  
“A stone moth?!”  
  
Jagged rocks broke free from the creature and rained down on the pair like a barrage of missiles.  
  
“Sh-sho!” Blakki turned back to her maestro. Thankfully, he seemed to have dodged the initial assault. Throwing off her hat and putting on her jacket properly, the fox girl stood up to face their target. Rather than another rain of stones, the moth swooped down at Blakki. The girl’s eyes went wide at the unexpected maneuver, she crossed her arms in front of her to block it, but she was picked up and brought into the air.  
  
“Blakki!” The maestro shouted. Before he could do anything else, the scherzando looped around and slammed his resonator into the ground, leaving a hole next to the girl.  
  
“UUhg, che fanno male…” She groaned, sitting up.  
  
“La Bella Vita, Adagio!”  
  
Blakki glowed for a moment, the pain in her gut and back vanishing. “Adagio?” She blinked. It was a powerful heal for sure. But the effectiveness concerned her. Such a strong effect had to take a toll on the source of her powers. She glanced back at Shouri who was on high alert.  
  
She hopped back to her feet. “I’m gonna put these ears to use!” She declared, closing her eyes. Her ears stood up straight, twitching every so often. “Ah!” She stepped to the side, but the movement of the enemy scherzando was too quick for her. It burst out of the ground, clipping her with the jagged, stone wing.  
  
“La Bella Vita, Moderato!”  
  
Another glow, and the pain vanished. “Dannazione...” The girl gritted her teeth.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
Blakki chucked the ball of lunar energy at the flying menace. It dodged the attack, causing the ball to smash through the window of the greenhouse. Glass rained down from above. “Ack!” The pair looked down and closed their eyes as they felt the shards hit them.  
  
“GAH!”  
  
Before Shouri knew what was happening, Blakki was knocked into him and they laid on the ground in a heap.  
  
“This isn’t working.” The boy breathed out.  
  
“Y-yea…” Blakki sat up, sliding off of Shouri.  
  
Beep beep beep!  
  
Shouri didn’t care to look at his beeping Tuner. “La bella-” Blakki clamped her hand over his mouth. “No. You can’t keep healing me. I’ll deal with the pain for now.”  
  
The boy just stared. He shook his head to refocus himself. Finally turning his attention to his tuner, a new spell had appeared on his list. As usual, he didn’t know what it did, but there was something odd.  
  
Besides the usual modifiers that went from weakest to strongest, there was a new modifier to him.  
  
“Staccato”  
  
“Blakki, Passo Silenzioso, Presto Staccato.”  
  
The resonator stared. That second modifier. She had heard it before; that wasn’t what was odd though. She felt strange. It wasn’t like a normal command. Normal commands gave her a quick burst of energy. But right now, she felt like there was a string connecting from Shouri to her.  
  
“Fight Blakki.”  
  
She nodded. Getting to her feet, she turned to see the scherzando already in low flight, swooping towards her. Right before impact, her entire body became the deepest shade of black and it seemed like the creature just went through her. It swooped over Shouri and looped around, narrowing its body as it came down to slam into Blakki. Before it hit her, however, her entire form turned totally black once again.  
  
Just like before, it seemed like the moth had missed its mark and just went though its target, drilling into the ground and leaving another hole.  
  
“Ha.” Blakki smirked. This spell, whatever it was, gave her the ability to easily dodge even a fast enemy like this one.  
  
“Sho! It’s coming back up!”  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
BOOM!  
  
The force of the sudden attack kicked up a large amount of dust. The pair panted hard. The obscuring cloud of debris cleared just enough for the pair to bear witness to the end of their adversary.  
  
With that out of the way, Shouri fell to his knees. “Fuck…” He held his hands on his chest, gasping for breath. Blakki’s smile faded as she stared at her maestro’s condition contritely.  
  
“We need to get out of here Blakki.” He looked up at his resonator who was at attention as soon as her name was called.  
  
“R-right. Let me help you up.”


	17. Chapter 17

“Seismologists are baffled by the sudden tremors experienced this afternoon. In related news, the greenhouse at the community college was destroyed. Police are unclear if the damage to the campus is related at all to the tremors this afternoon.”  
  
Aura frowned at the TV, then looked back at the couch.  
  
Blakki and Shouri laid on opposite ends of the couch, both looked absolutely exhausted and were drifting in and out of consciousness. “I'm assuming this was your handy work?” Aura asked, walking towards the kitchen.  
  
“Yeah.” Shouri said, blankly staring at the television. He was barely processing what she was saying. “Blakki took a beating.” He glanced down the couch, and saw the girl had actually drifted off to sleep.  
  
Returning with a bottle of water, knelt down next to her brother. “What do you think about her Shouri?”  
  
“Blakki?”  
“No dipshit, Mrs. Jenkins next door.”  
  
Shouri glared at his sister, wearing a sharp disapproving frown.  
  
“Of course Blakki.” Aura replied sarcastically.  
  
His eyes opened back up to full as he processed that thought. “She's my-” Shouri looked over at the girl's sleeping form. “…I don't know…” He frowned again, unable to find the words he wanted to use  
  
Aura smiled, knowingly. She stood up straight. “I see.” The elder sibling replied, turning around to return to the kitchen.  
  
“Why?” The brother asked, now curious as to why his sister would suddenly ask about such a thing.  
  
“I'm letting her live here. I wanted to know how you felt about this girl that sleeps with you.” Aura replied coyly.  
  
“What!? It's not like that! We haven't-”  
“Yet. She might have those ears and tail, but the rest is human. Especially her maiden heart waiting for her prince to sweep her off her feet.”  
  
Aura turned around, smirking rather smugly at Shouri, who was shooting back an equally nasty glare at his sister.   
  
“I'm not participating in your fantasies.” Shouri swung his feet off the couch, stood up, and walked out of the room.  
  
Aura snickered to herself as she watched her brother retreat to his room. “Search your feelings, you know it to be catgirls.”  
  
\-----  
  
Despite warnings to go home and not investigate the greenhouse, Amika and Leo had managed to find their way into the damaged structure.  
  
“I have a feeling Shouri was here.” The brunette girl commented, taking a sweeping look at the damage.  
  
The black-haired boy however stared at his friend incredulously “Really Amika? Really?”  
  
She turned to Leo to protest the point. “You heard what that guy said. Shouri has a “great power”. This looks like pretty great damage to me.” Amika motioned to the damage all around them.  
  
Leo shook his head at the senseless destruction before bending down and picking up a shard of glass. He gave it a look over before turning his attention to his classmate. “Yeah, I guess so. Then again, we don't really know who else may have this “great power” because I doubt we’re it.” He pondered aloud, eyes drifting back towards the shard of glass he held.  
  
“What are you getting at?” Amika asked, turning to her friend.  
  
He stood up and threw away the rubble he was holding. “Maybe there is a piece to this we're missing.”  
  
Amika frowned and turned away. She walked to the entrance of the greenhouse and placed her hand on the side of the door. “Shouri wants nothing to do with us, so he won't explain.” She stared out at the rest of the campus as she spoke.  
  
Leo snapped his fingers, making a sudden realization. Amika turned to him. “That store, Renoir's Apparel. The shopkeeper, that boy in the costume.”  
  
She processed that thought for a moment before her face lit up with same realization. “Oh! And that red-haired girl that was talking to Shouri before he left. They seemed to be pretty friendly. Maybe we can get her to talk if we show her these.” The girl un-pocketed her tuner and flashed it to her friend. He took his tuner out of his own pocket and looked it over.   
  
He nodded, now there was a thought. “Good idea! Yeah, let's go pay that shop a visit.”  
  
\-----

“Blakki! Wake up!”  
  
The beckoned girl stirred. She groggily sat up, curing the invention of consciousness. In a daze, she looked around, her ears were folded back, hair poking every which way. Limbs (including a tail) stretched out accompanied a yawn. A certain scent wafted into her senses. Blakki opened her eyes up wide.  
  
“Good, you're awake. Dinner will be ready soon, go wash up.” Aura said from the kitchen.  
  
This earned a head tilt from the now confused fox-girl. “Uhh, what?” Blakki asked for clarification.  
  
“Wash up, we're gonna eat dinner.”  
“Uhh..”  
  
Aura, who had been moving about the small kitchen, stood at the counter looking out into the living room. “What's confusing about this?” She asked, wiping her hands clean with a dish towel.  
  
“Uhh... everything.. Usually Sho just brings me something to eat. No washing…” Blakki muttered sheepishly.  
  
“Oh, well. Haven't you ever had a family dinner?”  
  
Blakki's ears perked up at that word. “Family...dinner?” She breathed out. Despite her apprehension and confusion her tail wagged happily at that thought.  
  
The older woman smiled to herself. Blakki was so easy to read. “Go wash your hands.” Aura pointed at the bathroom.  
  
“Okay!” Blakki scrambled off the couch, unable to suppress a smile. The prospect of her being invited to a family dinner excited her. The fox-girl darted out of the room. Aura smiled bitter sweetly at the food she was cooking. She looked over at the pot containing a large amount of rice, and the pan in front of her, which held peppers, onions, and small chunks of beef.  
  
The reason Aura was even home right now was because she had decided to cut down on her classes at her college. It would take her more time to get through school, but she would be able to spend more time at home. She had realized that her brother had only been getting worse because she was never there. In fact, if it hadn't been for Blakki Shouri might have...  
  
Shaking off that dreadful thought, the older sibling was thankful for the resonator for pulling her younger brother out of his shell. He was definitely far happier than he was a month ago. But Aura was his sibling, it shouldn’t be up to this random girl to console him.  
  
Blakki sat at the table, across from Shouri. Aura sat at the end of the table.  
  
While the two girls at the table seemed to be excited to eat the food, the one boy seemed less than pleased to be sitting there. “Why are we doing this again?” Shouri asked grumpily. Using his fork he batted a piece of meat back and forth on his plate.  
  
“Because, I want the three of us to have a nice family dinner.” Aura replied simply.  
  
Shouri stopped playing with his food and gently set the fork back down on his plate. “Family.” He stared blankly at the table.  
  
Aura glanced over at her brother. “Yes, that is the word I used.”  
  
“E-excuse me...” Before either girl realized what had happened, Shouri had got up and left the table, closing himself in his room.  
  
The smile from Blakki’s face had faded, as she got up to chase after her maestro. Aura motioned for obsessive resonator to sit. “But Aura!” She protested.  
  
“I expected this. He’s still hurting. Just leave him be, he needs to be alone with his thoughts” Aura explained, before returning to eating as if Shouri hadn’t left the table.  
  
The fox-girl’s ears wilted; she dropped back down into her seat, staring at her food forlornly. “Sh-sho.”  
  
\----  
  
Once more, Blakki laid on the couch. She stared blankly at the television, her mind in turmoil about the events that occurred only a couple of hours ago. Sitting up she looked over at the hallway which led to Shouri’s room. “He still hasn't come out to eat.” Her ears were folded back, her eyes wrought with concern. She sprung up off of the couch. “I need to-”  
  
“Sit.”  
  
Aura flipped through her social media, having been sitting next to the worried fox-girl.  
  
Blakki looked back. She bit her bottom lip. “But why? He's all alone.” She protested.  
  
“Sometimes you have to let your loved ones be.”  
“But you-”  
  
The blonde-haired woman looked over at the fox-girl and smiled warmly, despite her tone prior. “I’m his sister. When he's gallivanting about the woods saving magical catgirls from rivers, I'm a little concerned.”  
  
This explanation didn’t satisfy the concerned party however. “But...” The resonator whimpered, looking down in defeat as she realized Aura wouldn’t budge on this point. “Sho is everything to me, he's my world. I'm worried.” She sat back down on the couch next to Aura, gaze still cast down.  
  
The older woman shook her head, but maintained her smile. She reached over and patted the fox-girl’s head. “I understand that, but you don't want to suffocate him and drive him away.”  
  
“Credo che...”  
  
\-----  
  
Knock knock knock  
  
“We're closed...” Sonia opened the door to her shop and saw two people she didn’t recognize standing there. Her eyes went wide as soon as she caught sight of what these strangers were holding however.  
  
“We need to talk.” Leo said, holding up his tuner.  
“I think you know our friend Shouri.” Amika flashed her own tuner as if it was a police badge.  
  
Sonia sat at her table, in her own shop, but despite that she felt like an awkward outsider. Sitting across from her were the two supposed friends of Shouri. Both of the tuners laid on the table in front of them. The store-owner stared at the two devices and bit her bottom lip, hoping Vinci would stay in the shower for a bit longer.  
  
“So.” Leo said suddenly.  
  
The red-haired girl jumped, having been startled out of her thoughts. “Y-yes?!”  
  
“How long have you known Shouri for?” Leo began the questioning.  
  
The tenured maestro frowned. What was this even about? Pondering that thought, she gave her guesstimate: “About a month or so?”  
  
“Hmm...” Leo frowned, crossing his arms across his chest.   
  
Amika, however, found fault in that answer, and slammed her hands on the table. “Bullshit!” She barked, glaring at the other girl.  
  
“Eh!?” Sonia yelped out, turning her attention to the much louder woman.  
  
“Shouri doesn’t just make friends out of nowhere, we’ve known him for years and he barely gives us the time of day, explain that!” Leo looked over at his boisterous friend. She had a point, though he wanted to let the conversation naturally flow in that direction rather than barking out orders like some kind of drill instructor.  
  
“Maybe because you're butting your nose in places where they don't belong.” A male voice said suddenly. Vinci was standing on the stairs, a white towel resting on his shoulder. He walked down, and into the room. The younger boy noted the tuners sitting on the table. He grimaced at the sight of the devices. “Oh you idiots.” Vinci shook his head.  
  
Amika gritted her teeth. “What do you know?!” She shouted, turning her harsh glare to the newcomer.  
  
Vinci stood next to his maestro, he looked over at her. “Should we tell them Sonia? They already have tuners”  
  
The maestro in question looked at the pair of devices. Their default clear shells and powered off screens. “Theirs are off though, so they don't have partners yet.” Sonia noted. Leo and Amika panicked internally at their bluff being called out so easily.  
  
“It's not their fault though. They're a little dumb, but ignorance isn't bliss when it comes to this stuff.” The tenured maestro decided after a moment of thought.  
  
The partner-less pair took exception to that. “Hey!” Amika and Leo shouted in unison.  
  
Vinci began to speak as he walked over to the kitchen counter. “Look, whether you intended to or not, you've just entered yourself into a world you can't escape from.” He stopped and removed his hat, revealing that his floppy dog ears weren’t part of the hat as it appeared.  
  
“Wait… Those ears, the hat?” Leo stared at Vinci, trying to figure out what was going on  
“Nice attention to detail on that costume.” Amika laughed nervously.  
  
He lifted his ear demonstrating just how real it was. He even pulled on it, showing off how attached to his skull it was. “It's not a costume, these are a part of my body.” Vinci stated, releasing it and allowing it to fall back into place.

“Then that's-”  
“How I heard you two yesterday.” Vinci replied, cutting Amika off.  
“Then your tail?”  
“Yes, it too is real, and a part of my body.”  
  
Vinci leaned on the counter, which obscured him from view. Sonia began to speak “You see, the tuner links you to your partner resonator.” She told the other pair, pulling out her own tuner.  
  
“Eh? I don't get it..?”Amika scratched her head in confusion. She looked down at her own tuner.  
  
“So what’s the point of this link? Besides the ears and tail, he just looks like another kid. ”Leo asked, just as confused as Amika.  
  
At this point, Vinci had walked back over to the table. “Oh no, we're much more dangerous than you think.” He stuck a kitchen knife he had grabbed into the table. The sudden movement and threat implied behind the gesture scared the poor ignorant pair half to death.  
  
The dog-resonator looked over to his maestro, spreading his legs slightly to get into battle stance. “I think you have a good idea of what I’m thinking.”  
  
Sonia nodded. She inhaled deeply and exhaled. She focused her vision on the knife. “Corrente Elettrica, Pianissimo.” The red-haired resonator spoke calmly and coolly.  
  
The commanded resonator held out his hands, electricity wrapping around his hands for a brief moment before he was able to direct the current of electrical charge at the pair sitting across from his maestro. The knife intercepted the attack, channeling the charge into the wooden table, and allowing it to dissipate harmlessly. The room remained quiet for a few minutes.  
  
Leo stood up first, grabbing his tuner with one hand, and Amika’s hand with the other. “I think we need to be leaving, sorry for bothering you.”  
  
“But Leo!” Amika shouted in protest as she was pulled up to her feet. She managed to grab her tuner as she was being pulled away from the table like a stubborn dog.  
  
Sonia leaned back in her chair, she pushed her glasses back up and folded her arms across her chest as she watched her guests leave her shop.  
  
Leo tried to put some distance between them and the store of apparently magical creatures. Amika fought him on this, however. “Leo let go!” She shouted in protest as she was pulled down the street. Leo stopped, and looked back.  
  
“No! Did you see that?! He shot lightning from his body! He had animal ears! And a tail!” The boy shouted, tightening his grip around his friend’s hand. Amika didn’t appreciate her hand being crushed and yanked it away.  
  
“Leofwine, we agreed to help Shouri however we could.” She gritted her teeth, now turning her glare on her best friend.  
  
In an unusual turn for the normally, calm, level-headed boy, he glared back at his dear friend. “Well he doesn't want our help!” Leo spat. “Amika, we're way over our heads here.” He stated more calmly, however his glare remained. The girl had no rebuttal, she merely matched his glare with her own. “And the damage in the greenhouse. It all makes sense.” His glare faded into a look of sheer horror. “That kid was probably holding back, imagine what he could have done to us if he wanted!” He barked.  
  
“But Leo-!” Amika pleaded.  
  
“No! I'm done with this. Shouri can fend for himself. In fact, it's probably dangerous even having these things!” Leo looked down at the tuner in his hand. He threw it into the darkness of the street they were standing on. It bounced several times and landed in a storm drain. Finally, without another word, he turned and ran.  
  
The sudden actions of throwing the tuner before running startled Amika, which led her to calling out too late. “Leo!”  
  
Amika looked back at the storm drain Leo’s tuner landed in. Her fierce glare having been replaced by a look of betrayal “...but.. we promised... together…” 

“Lina, I’m sorry…”  
  
\---  
  
Blakki opened her eyes. Some infomercial played on the television. She was all alone out in the living room. Aura’s door was closed, she must have gone to bed. The more pressing matter was the other bedroom door. It was also still closed. “Sh-sho…” Blakki sat up on the couch. She looked around to gather her bearings.  
  
The dinner (or at least the attempt at one) played again in her mind. “He never came out of his room.” Blakki yawned. She was still tired, but she missed her maestro. The fox-girl glanced back at the door of the woman who had stopped her earlier. “Forget what Aura said, I'm gonna go lay down with him.” Groggily, she got up from the couch and walked over to Shouri's room. She opened the door gently and saw Shouri's sleeping form on his bed.  
  
The resonator walked into the room, she stood next to her maestro’s bed. The girl lifted up the blanket Shouri was nestled under, and laid down herself. She allowed the blanket to fall over the both of them and wrapped her arms around Shouri from behind him.  
  
“...Blakki?” Shouri asked, having been woken up from this act.  
  
“I'm here Sho..”  
“I'm sorry.”  
“For what?”  
“I ruined dinner for you.”  
“You didn't ruin it; I'm just worried about you.”  
“...thank you...”  
  
Blakki wrapped her tail around Shouri, the two fell comfortably asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

“You still happy with that girl?  
“Yeah. I’m assuming you’re still obsessed with me, Seven?”  
“Obsessed has such a negative ring to it. Hopelessly attracted? You’re the flame and I’m the moth.”  
“You can’t replace her.”  
“Then why did you agree to meet me in secret like this?”  
  
“Why do you think it’s a secret?”  
“I watched you. I can shift my body into data and enter computer networks. How do you think you got my message in the first place?”  
“You need a new hobby.”  
  
“My offer is still open to run away with me. I’m worried about you.”  
“What’s to worry about? The Scherzando? We can deal with them just fine.”  
“No. Father.”  
“Of course. What is your crazy father planning anyways?”  
“Hee hee… what do you think?”  
“Whatever.”  
“I’m serious though. You’re in danger.”  
  
“I think I can handle my own business.”  
“I can protect you better than she can. Tch… both of you are the same. Why do I have the worst taste in partners?”  
  
\---  
  
Blakki slowly opened her eyes. Something felt off about the last dream she had but she couldn’t place what. The past week had been peaceful after the last scherzando attack. She enjoyed the peaceful days spent with her dear maestro and his sister. Though when it got a bit lonely, she’d beg to go over to Sonia’s and help them out with the shop to pass the time.  
  
All and all, she was satisfied with her life at the moment.  
  
“Mmmmnn...” The groggy girl stretched and yawned. Her safety closet was always pleasant to wake up and stretch in. Aura had offered the girl a comfy spot on the couch to sleep on, but the fox-girl denied it; preferring to be closer to Shouri. The elder sister would tease the duo endlessly about this arrangement (much to their embarrassment.)  
  
She crawled out of her closet, seeing Shouri sleeping peacefully in bed brought a small smile to her face. The girl stepped quietly for the door, each step careful and calculated to avoid creating any noise that would wake her partner.  
  
“You know-”  
  
Fox ears and tail shot straight up in surprise. “-you don't have to worry about waking me up.” Shouri continued, seeing the surprised reaction of his partner. She turned to see Shouri sitting up in bed. Her ears flattened, as her shoulders and tail dropped in disappointment of being caught.  
  
“Buongiorno Sho.” The girl pouted. She sulked over to the bed and sat down next to Shouri.  
  
The boy yawned, stretching out himself. “What's wrong?” He looked over at his partner who continued to pout about the situation.  
  
She smiled bitter-sweetly at her maestro. “You always seem to catch me on the way out of the room, but I can never catch you leaving.”  
  
Shouri smirked mischievously before grabbing the girl’s ears.  
  
“Ah!”  
“Yeah, you think with these you'd be able to hear everything.” Shouri teased, using his pinky fingers to scratch the base of her ears.  
  
The girl squirmed and trembled at the odd almost pleasure she got from the act. “S-staaaahh...”Blakki whimpered.  
  
He released her ears after only a moment of the teasing. “Besides, I can't have you sneaking out, not today at least.” Blakki almost seemed disappointed he let go of her ears, but Shouri didn’t notice this and stood up from the bed.  
  
“Why's that?”  
“Because, we're going on a field trip today.”  
“Eh?”  
  
\---  
  
While they got ready another young adult prepared for their own day.  
  
“Leo…” Amika stared at herself in the mirror, her gaze drifted down to her vanity the mirror was attached to. A pair of de-activated tuners laid among several of the girl’s possessions.  
  
She sighed, picking up her own tuner. She moved her hand back and forth, allowing the light to reflect off of the slightly transparent plastics. “We were given these for a reason.” Clipping the device to the side of her skirt her eyes fell again on Leo’s tuner. “I’ll just have to prove it to you.” She picked up the second device and jammed it into her bag. Slinging that over her shoulder, she turned to depart for her destination.  
  
The young woman waited at a bus stop. She reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of tickets which were for an aquarium. The pair of tickets were far fancier than normal, being decorated with fish patterns and big shiny text that read “GRAND OPENING!”  
  
“You’re so bad at keeping your promises.” Amika muttered to herself, crumbling one of the two tickets in her hand.  
  
\---  
  
“Oh wow! Sho!” Blakki exclaimed. Her face was pressed against the side of a large fish tank. She held her hat down with one hand, as the brim making contact with the glass was pushing the hat off of her head. She stared at the fish as they swam about the tank. “I-I've never seen an aquarium before.” The fox-girl gasped in awe.  
  
Her maestro, who was standing nearby raised an eyebrow. “Really?” He asked. She had amnesia so most things should classify under that category.   
  
“Yeah.” Blakki pulled her face away from the glass. She noticed the look of confusion on her companion’s face and decided to elaborate. “I mean, whenever I see something, I get a feeling of whether it is new to me or not. Like trees and stuff, I've seen before I woke up here. But this-” She pointed to the aquarium behind her. “I get a feeling of newness.”  
  
“Newness?” He chuckled.  
“Stai zitto! I don't know how to describe it!” Blakki laughed also, grabbing Shouri's shoulders and shaking the boy.  
  
The duo smiled at each other. A silence followed.  
  
The PA system came to life.  
  
“Attention dear guests, the opening ceremony will be happening in the main tank area. If you would like to watch please report there now.”  
  
“Can we go Sho?”  
“I don't see why not.”  
  
Amika stood alone, leaning over the railing to the stingray petting tank that this aquarium had. The girl stared at the completely lifeless tuner she held. “I wish it was easier to find out what I was supposed to do with this thing” She closed her eyes, at least it was quiet since everyone had started moving towards the opening ceremony.  
  
Even the employees had wandered off it seemed. This left Amika alone with her thoughts and the sounds of aquarium machinery humming away. That was until a soft beeping noise graced her hearing. “Huh?” The girl opened her eyes. The noise was coming from her hand. Turning the tuner towards her, the screen was now lit up.  
  
“What the heck?"  
  
“Come on Sho we're going to be late!” Blakki shouted, standing at the end of the hallway and waving for her maestro.   
  
“I'm coming!” Shouri yelled. He stepped down a couple of steps into a tunnel with a curved roof made of all glass, which showed off the tank from all angles. From what he recalled of the map, the main exhibition area where the opening ceremony was being held was down another hallway behind some large doors or something.  
  
Blakki looked about the exhibit they were in. Her eyebrows turned up in concern and the smile slowly faded from her face. She walked over to the one of the glass panes. “È strano...”  
  
The maestro walked over to his resonator and tried to see what she was looking at. “What’s up?” Shouri asked.  
  
“There aren't any fish in here.” Blakki frowned.  
“Maybe they haven't filled this tank yet?”  
  
He looked around the watery environment himself. It seemed fully set up. There weren’t any test equipment, or signs of construction being done “This aquarium did open today.” He didn’t like his own explanation though. Something was bugging him about this. This walkway was one of the main paths leading to the exhibition area. Surely the aquarium would want to have some of their prized fish on full display in this area.  
  
Suddenly a small shadow darted across their vision. “What was that!?” They both shouted. Shouri and Blakki looked at each other and then began to frantically look around for the shadow.  
  
SLAM!  
  
A monstrous thud hit the glass directly in front of them. The pair yelped out in surprise at the sudden loud noise. Blakki had lost her balance and fell on her rear from the shock. Shouri helped his startled partner up. He returned to looking around, her ears twitched.  
  
drip  
drip  
drip  
  
The noise was next to them, water dripping. The fox-eared girl looked up to trace the source of the water. Her face paled instantly. “Uhhhhhh Shooooo..” She grabbed his jacket sleeve and began shaking him rapidly.  
  
“Huh?” Shouri turned his attention to his slowly panicking resonator.  
  
Blakki pointed up. Shouri spun around and looked up. The glass above them was cracked and only growing as it spider webbed out from the initial impact site.  
  
And that’s when they caught sight of it: a fish shaped scherzando. It swam back around and began to charge at the weakened glass. “And we're running now!” Shouri grabbed Blakki's hand and pulled her away. The glass shattered, just as they had exiting the room. Large volumes of water drained into the room, submerging the underground room rather quickly.  
  
The pair watched in horror as the fish that had destroyed the glass hopped out of the water and onto land, right behind them. It wasn’t too big of a fish, probably the size of a large bass. It was blue in color and had fins made of ice. “You have GOT to be kidding me” Shouri shook his head in disbelief.  
  
“It's a scherzando! We need to get rid of it before- Eiyaah!” Blakki side stepped, being interrupted by the fish-like creature hopping at her. “It tried to bite me Sho!” She cried out.  
  
“Kick it! It's just a fish!” Shouri shouted while grabbing his tuner, in his haste, he accidently dropped the device. “Shit!” It had landed on a corner and rolled a small distance away.  
  
“I don't think I can Sho! It’s too quick!” She dodged another attempted bite. Despite fish not normally having teeth, this one for whatever reason clearly had fangs made of ice and was definitely trying to take a bite out of the fox-girl “Ah!” Blakki hopped backwards as the surprisingly mobile fish continued its assault.  
  
“Punt it like a god damn ball!”  
“Vattene!” Right as the fish scherzando jumped up to attempt another tasting session, it met Blakki’s foot, sending it sailing away. It went flying across several tanks, unfortunately landing in a tank of water.  
  
“Oopsie…” Blakki bit her bottom lip, realizing that she just nullified their advantage.  
  
Shouri sighed, he knew the fault was on him for dropping their tuner and ordering Blakki to kick it away. “Fuck, I was hoping it would hit a wall and then we could just beat it to death.” The boy cursed, picking up his tuner and drying it off with his shirt. Begrudgingly, he looked towards the tank that the fish had landed in. “Alright, I suppose this is our responsibility.”  
  
\---  
  
SPLASH  
  
Amika opened her eyes again. After having silenced her tuner, it didn’t light up or function any further, so she had gone back to sulking. However, the sudden noise made her open her eyes. Looking down into the sting ray tank, she noticed the fish that previously inhabited the tank were gone.  
  
“Eh?” The girl looked up and saw what looked like a person laying in the shallow waters. “Hey!” Amika shouted. No response. “Hey! Hey! Get out of there!” She shouted again, standing up straight. Looking around, she was still all alone. Turning her attention to the person in the water, she held her arms akimbo and frowned.  
  
“How did they get in there anyways?” Amika asked herself. Whoever this person was, they weren’t moving. “Hey!” She called out once more.  
  
No response.  
  
What’s more, no one was running over despite all the noise Amika was making. “Uhhhh?” The girl took one more look around. Still nobody coming. “God damn it.” She cursed, starting to pull off her shoes. Pushing herself up, she sat herself up on the railing and moved her legs inside of the tank. Once more, she nervously looked around, expecting to be caught, but no one came. Amika inhaled deeply, then exhaled, before sliding down into the tank. The water was lukewarm, to be expected of a tank holding stingrays.  
  
The intruder calmly and carefully stepped through the water, making an extra effort to not to step on any stingrays. The girl's heart began to race though, not from the presence of the creatures she was wary of, but by their total absence. She eventually reached the person in the water. They were breathing, thankfully. Amika observed the person before them. They had shoulder length sandy blonde hair, which even in the water one could tell that it was wavy. They looked like they were in beach attire, which kind of made sense considering they were in an aquarium.  
  
The figure was female. She wore a black crop top, which covered the top half of her chest, but to complement that, she was wearing a brown sleeveless hoodie, which was left open, and brown swim trunks. To complete the beach going attire, this mystery girl seemed to prefer sandals as her footwear of choice.  
  
Amika knelt down next to unconscious girl, lifting her own skirt a bit, as to avoid getting it wet. “Hey, come on, you can't be in here.” She nudged the other girl. As with her previous attempts, Amika received no response. Rather than panic, she chose to be annoyed. “Alright, let's at least get you out of here then.” Reaching under the other girl, Amika lifted her from the water. She gritted her teeth immediately. This was going to be rough.  
  
“Nngh! No sweat!” Her dentist would have a few words with her about grinding her teeth, but Amika would make it through this no matter what. “Please don't come back stingrays.” The woman groaned as she moved through the water.  
  
Amika lifted the brown-clad girl onto the edge, making sure to not let her fall over. She crawled back over the barrier and pulled her prize fully over and gently laid her down on the ground. Amika panted hard, now totally soaked in sweat and saltwater. She looked over at the girl she rescued, she smirked.  
  
“You owe me one.”  
  
Before Amika could finish catching her breath, the tuner on her side began to go haywire. As soon as she touched the device to pull it from her skirt, she felt a strange warmth she hadn’t felt before.  
  
The device was active once again, but rather than just a backlit screen, there were now all kinds of information appearing and disappearing from the display.  
  
As if the device coming to life was an omen, the girl Amika had rescued began to stir.  
  
Her red eyes shot open. She was in a building of some kind. It smelled of salt-water and marine life. She stared blankly. There was a strong presence she could feel to her left. She looked over and saw a brown-eyed girl, holding some kind of crazy beeping device.  
  
“Oh! You're awake now” The other girl smiled, her clothes were covered in a mixture of sweat and water. “Rhythm…” The beach-clad girl breathed out.  
  
“Huh?” Confusion was written all over the girl’s face.  
“I-it's nothing, My name is Pacifica.”  
  
“I'm Amika.” The woman replied, she held out her hand for the other girl. Pacifica looked down at Amika's hand, before smiling and shaking her hand. The tuner Amika held in her other hand beeped loudly and ceased it’s protesting.  
  
“Huh?” The owner of the device looked it over. “What the-?” The confusing information that had been appearing and disappearing before had stopped, now it showed some kind of information screen, chiefly, it was labeled “Pacifica”  
  
She looked up at the girl she had rescued, who stared back just as perplexed. “Wh-what does this mean?” Given that Pacifica had no idea what Amika was looking at, she couldn’t offer any helpful information and just wondered what this woman was going on about.  
  
SPLASH  
SPLASH  
  
A strange fish landed in front of the two girls. It was about the size of a large bass, however, unlike normal fish, it wasn’t flopping around or struggling to breathe. It seemed to be staring at them. They stared back. Upon closer observation, it looked like its fins were transparent, almost like water.  
  
It made a strange hissing noise, which Amika wasn’t expecting from a fish. “What the hell?” She breathed out. The fish opened its mouth.  
  
“Amika!” Pacifica’s body just moved. She didn’t think, she tackled the other girl to the ground as the strange fish released a beam of ice that hit right where the other girl had been standing.  
  
Spikes made of ice stuck out of the glass behind them. “What the..?” Amika , trying to calm her pounding heart. “Th-thank you, Pacifica…” The girl trembled a bit from the shock of it all.  
  
The other girl thought nothing of it and smiled. “Of course.” Pacifica stood up in front of Amika, revealing a feature about her that Amika didn't notice before: a thick brown tail with a tan tip poked out from behind Pacifica. “You...have... a tail?” Amika breathed out. Looking up at the top of the girl’s head, she also saw a pair of slightly fluffy triangular ears instead of the human shaped ears that she had expected.  
  
The blonde-haired girl looked back, noting her own extra appendage. “Haha, I guess I do! We can talk later.” Pacifica glared at the fish that sat on the ground before her.  
  
PUNT  
  
And then that fish was no longer a problem having been kicked like a ball to elsewhere in the facility. Despite the ease of their victory, Pacifica seemed bothered by it. “That was too easy.” She frowned.  
  
“That thing shot ICE at us. ICE.” Amika stood up, in shock at what had happened.  
  
Pacifica pondered that thought. The strange power that fish creature had seemed to resonate with her. “I think I can do that too.” The girl looked down at her hands.  
  
“What?” Amika blinked, not sure what to make of that.  
Pacifica turned to the other girl. “I don't know what’s going on. Please Help me Amika.”  
  
She stared back at the pleading girl. She looked scared, confused, concerned, and everything in between. With a sigh, she resigned to her fate. With a smile, she looked Pacifica in the eyes and spoke “Alright, I'll help you. “  
  
The worry and concern the blonde-haired girl felt seemingly evaporated as her anxiety faded into a smile. “Thank you Amika! I don’t have any memories of myself, but-” Pacifica closed her eyes, maintaining her smile. “-being here with you feels… right.”  
  
It was odd. Her day began with such negative, horrible feelings, crushing loneness even. But Pacifica seemed to make everything better. There was an odd connection she could feel to this strange animal eared girl. Amika’s thoughts drifted for a moment. That girl Sonia and her partner resonator Vinci.  
  
And…  
  
 _“I'm Blakki, and I’m Shouri's partner.”_  
  
Another fish plopped down in front the pair. This fish unlike the first one they encountered had fins made of ice, but otherwise was the same as the first one they had punted away. “It's back already?!” Amika shouted. The creature opened its mouth, a torrent of water began to gather at its mouth  
  
“Passo Silenzioso, Allegro!”  
  
With not a moment to spare, Blakki appeared and kicked the fish out of the way. “Luce Lunare, Piano!” Shouri commanded while running in. The lunar-elemental created a decent sized ball of energy and threw it at the downed fish enemy.  
  
Amika stared at the display of power from the other pair. Her hunch was right on the money. Blakki was probably just like Pacifica and that boy Vinci.  
  
Shouri, having been focused on dealing with the scherzando, failed to notice the onlookers until it was too late. “Oh shit!” He cursed, stepping back.  
  
The previously unrelated girl smirked toothily. “Exactly who I want to see right now.”  
  
“Hey!” Blakki darted over and stepped in front of her maestro, fully expecting to have to tell Amika off again. She looked over and locked eyes with Pacifica. Her eyes went wide as she realized what the second girl was. “R-resonator…” Blakki breathed.  
  
“What?” The remaining trio all spoke in unison.  
  
“Sho, that girl, she's a resonator!”  
  
“I'm a what?” Poor Pacifica looked utterly confused. Having woken up only minutes ago, she didn’t have a clue what was happening. But that term seemed oddly familiar to her.  
  
Shouri was baffled himself. Why was a resonator with Amika? “No way...” Then his eyes met the (now) blue tuner in the girl’s hand. He shook his head, clipping his own tuner to his side. “You didn't…” He snatched the tuner out of it's owner's hand.  
  
“What the fuck man!?” She eased up when he turned the screen to her to show what he was doing. She realized that he was looking at screens she didn't know the device could produce, meaning he knew what he was doing.  
  
“Of course.” Shouri spat, tossing the device back to its owner and stepping away from her.  
  
“What's that supposed to mean?” Amika glared. She quickly calmed herself, trying not to scare away information source A. Looking down at the screen that Shouri had left it on revealed a lot of information  
  
 _Amika Castillo  
Resonator: Pacifica  
Species: Demi-Human (Otter)  
Element: Water  
Attribute: Piercing  
Rhythm: 100%_  
  
“You talked to Sahji didn't you?”  
“Yeah.”  
“God damn it. I'm gonna kill that sage.”  
“Can you at least tell me what's going on?”  
  
Shouri groaned begrudgingly. “That damn thing is already registered to you two.” He looked over at his own resonator who stared back in a similar state of confusion at the turn of events. “Go ahead and show her Blakki, I don’t think anyone else is around.”  
  
The other girl frowned and took off her hat, revealing her large fluffy ears. She then untied her jacket from her waist and put it on, revealing her own poofy tail. “My name is Blakki. I'm a Lunar-Healing resonator.” She smiled sheepishly.  
  
“Resonators come from another world. Supposedly because of some gas, they don’t have memories of the other world.” Shouri started. Pacifica and Amika looked at each other then back at their now teacher.  
  
He went on to explain Amika’s role as a maestro, the scherzando, and some of the finer mechanics about resonator battles.  
  
“I see…” Amika looked down, digesting all of this info. “So, I’m a maestro now, and Pacifica is my resonator?” She asked for clarification. Shouri nodded. Amika looked down, silent as she continued to process everything that was happening. She wanted to be involved with Shouri's world. She remembered what Sonia had said to her back at that time, she understood what it meant.  
  
Her thoughts would be interrupted by Shouri speaking up. “What about Leo?”

She looked up. Her face said it all. He said or did something that really hurt her. Shouri’s expression lightened as she finally mustered up the courage to speak. “He knows a little. But he flipped out and tried to throw away his tuner.” Amika looked down, feeling that his panic was her own weakness.  
  
“Good.”  
  
The newly initiated maestro looked up at her veteran counterpart. “You guys really shouldn’t have went snooping around.” He clarified his stance on the issue.  
  
“Eh?”  
“Resonators-” He paused trying to think of how he was going to put this. “-are dangerous.” He decided on. Amika gulped, she tensed up. “At this point I've been drugged, electrocuted, thrown from large buildings, among other things.”  
  
It all came to a head at once for the girl. The fish that shot ice at them. That was real. She stole a glance back at the still damaged tank behind them. She was the one that tried to push Leo into this world. Shouri was trying to protect them by pushing them away, and she wasted all that effort he had put in. “S-sorry Shouri.” She bit her bottom lip, adverting her gaze from the rest of the group. Pacifica stared at her new maestro. By merely existing near Amika did she bring danger to this innocent girl's life?  
  
“It's okay though.”  
  
The newly partnered pair looked over at Blakki who had spoken up. “I'm always here.” She giggled  
  
“I guess you do keep things interesting” Shouri laughed, rolling his eyes.  
“Sho!” Blakki playfully punched the boy's arm.  
  
This eased some of Pacifica’s concerns as she smiled at the other pair’s antics. They seemed like very good friends. Looking over at Amika, could she be just as good friends with her maestro?  
  
“Look out!” Shouri yelled out suddenly. The next thing Amika knew, she was on the ground, with Shouri covering her with one arm. Before she could voice a complaint, a stream of water blasted the wall they were standing near.  
  
“There was another one?!” Shouri hissed.  
“It's in the tank Sho!” Blakki yelled, pointing at a nearby tank where a shadow quickly darted away. Shouri stood up, helping the other maestro to her feet. “What do we do? We can't just leave it here…” The lunar-elemental looked over to her own maestro. The boy hummed in thought. They were at a distinct disadvantage as long as the scherzando was in its home turf.  
  
“I can fight it.” Pacifica offered.  
  
“You?” Shouri asked, turning his attention to the newbie resonator  
  
She nodded. “Y-yeah. I'm a good swimmer, I know that.”  
  
The group pondered that thought. Finally, Shouri looked over at Amika who looked lost. With a sigh, he begrudgingly accepted this idea. “We don't really have a choice. A water resonator would be the best to send after an enemy in the water.” Shouri looked back at the tank.  
  
“You're up Amika.”  
“M-Me?”  
  
Shouri nodded. “Yeah you. You're a maestro now. This is what we deal with.” He told her.  
  
The new maestro looked at her tuner, then over to Pacifica who gave her a short nod. She looked confident. Amika would have to trust her. “R-right. Let's go Pacifica.” The pair stepped forward. They both spotted the fish scherzando. Pacifica ran at the tank. Hopped up the side of the glass and vaulted herself over the railing into the water.  
  
Amika watched the girl gracefully zoom through the water as if it wasn’t even there. The scherzando seemed to be just as fast however.  
  
“You need to give her commands.” Shouri noted. Amika looked over at the veteran maestro, who was looking down at his own tuner, then back up at the fight which was more of a chase for the moment. Blakki stood at the ready. This is what Shouri meant about being a maestro. Flipping through some screens, she finally found an attack list.  
  
“What the heck language is this?” The girl cried out.  
  
“It’s Italian. Just read it out and Pacifica will do it.” Shouri advised, again, keeping his focus on Pacifica and the enemy scherzando.  
  
“R-right, hope I don’t butcher the pronunciation.” She laughed nervously. “Ghiacciolo, Pianissimo.” Amika read out. When she finished reading it aloud, there was a sort of draw on her body. The other odd thing was how… right reading that felt. Her lips just moved naturally as she read out the spell.  
  
What’s more Pacifica felt a similar sensation when using the rhythm she was provided. Even in the midst of swimming, she was able to freely move her arms about and not lose any speed. The water in front of her froze into thin spikes and flew through the water at its target.  
  
The scherzando turned and dodged the attack. “Tch!” Pacifica gritted her teeth and remained in hot pursuit of her target.  
  
“Fucker dodged!” Amika cursed.  
“Yeah, that’s annoying. And you’re just starting out, so you don’t have your rhythm build up.” Shouri commented.  
  
“Amika, can you tell Pacifica to try and bring it closer to us? I might be able to stun it so she can get a solid hit.” Blakki asked.  
  
Shouri snapped his fingers. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” He nodded in agreement of his partner’s request.  
  
“That’s this button, right?”  
  
Pacifica continued her chase, when she suddenly heard Amika’s voice in her head. “Can you try to herd that thing towards us? Shouri’s got a plan.” The voice in her head thing was a bit jarring for the otter-girl, but she responded the best she could.  
  
“Byeah, yew bot t!” Came out of the tuner.  
  
“Mente Offuscata, Piano Staccato!” Shouri called out.  
  
Amika was getting used to this whole speaking Italian to cast spells thing. She’d have to ask how these were broken up, because that one sounded like it was structured similarly to her two spells, but had more after it.  
  
Notably, Blakki just stayed focused, watching the tank closely. She slowly raised her left index and middle fingers to her temple and held it there. Then her right arm slowly came up, and she extended her palm towards the tank.  
  
The fish got closer, finally it jumped out of the water and looked as if it was going to attack the trio standing outside of the water. Amika’s eyes went wide as the scherzando gathered water for another attack. However, Blakki’s hand glowed purple for a brief second and the fish seemed stunned  
  
“AMIKA NOW!” She heard from her tuner.  
“Ghiacciolo, Pianissimo!”  
  
SPLASH  
  
Pacifica flew out of the water, she drew her arms back, needles of ice appearing between her fingers. A flick of her wrists forward unleashed a small rain of sharpened ice that pierced the fish scherzando, skewering it to the ground nearby.  
  
Amika just watched in awe as Pacifica landed near the group. “How was that?” She smirked.  
  
“C-cool…” Was all the maestro could muster to get out.


	19. Chapter 19

Amika and Pacifica sat in the back seat of a silver sportscar, and next to them was Blakki, who looked quite ill. Shouri sat in the front seat, and the drive identified as Aura was driving. “So, you're a resonator too?” The driver in question asked, looking at Pacifica through the rear-view mirror.  
  
“Y-yes ma'am!” The otter girl sat up straight.  
  
“Relax, jeeze.” Aura laughed, turning the mirror to see Blakki. “How are you holding up princess?”  
  
“I'm going to die.” The fox girl moaned.  
  
“Relax, our state has some of the lowest fatality rates for car crashes.” The non-maestro laughed, finally focusing on the road.  
  
Blakki curled up slightly. “Ah, no... non di nuovo...” Pacifica gulped. Amika placed a hand on her resonator’s shoulder. The otter girl looked over at her maestro who smiled at her. She couldn’t help but smile herself.  
  
They arrived home without incident. Blakki fell out of the car. “Ce I'abbiamo fatta!!” The girl moaned dramatically.  
  
Aura rolled her eyes at the dramatics of her brother’s resonator. “Oh get up.” She spoke as she walked by. Pacifica got out of the car, looking around. She had Shouri’s jacket around her waist. Despite her want to explore and look around the world she had been thrust into; the more seasoned pair advised against it until they had a proper disguise. So up to Shouri and Aura’s apartment they went.  
  
Once inside Blakki shed her hat and put her jacket back on proper. “Ah, home sweet home.” The fox-girl sighed in happiness. Shouri and Aura looked through the mail that was on the table and talked about bills and such. Pacifica stood at the door, feeling a bit lost.  
  
“I haven’t been to his place since…”  
  
Pacifica looked over at Amika who looked just as lost as she felt. “Amika, come here.” Shouri beckoned for the new maestro to come over to the dining room table. Immediately he began sharing information with Amika on the functions of the tuner as well as the scherzando.  
  
The otter girl wasn’t too interested. Her body knew what to do when Amika called out for her, so she didn’t care about the finer points. If her maestro gave her a command, she’d follow it. Were all resonators like this? She only had one frame of reference at the moment: Blakki.  
  
The other resonator in question had plopped onto the couch and simply enjoyed the air conditioning. She opened her eyes and noted Pacifica's lost expression. “Hey, come sit down.” Blakki patted a spot on the couch next to her. Pacifica pointed to herself. “Yeah you.” The other girl giggled. The water resonator made her way across the room and sat down on the couch next to Blakki.  
  
The television directly across from them played some daytime dramas. After sitting in the comfort of the air conditioning in silence for a moment, Pacifica decided to quell her curiosity. “So you live here?” Was her first inquiry.  
  
“Mhm. Me, Sho, and Aura.” Blakki replied, reaching over for the remote. She began to flip through the channels, having grown bored with the soap operas that plagued daytime television.  
  
“So what is it like here? This world I mean.” Was the newcomer’s second question.  
  
Blakki frowned. She pondered that question for a moment. Pacifica was asking the real hard-hitting questions it seemed. “I don't really have anything else to compare it to. It's difficult. Some people hate what we are.”  
  
The otter-girl’s gaze fell. She balled up her fists on her lap, biting her bottom lip. So she was going to be hated?  
  
“But-” Blakki looked up, at Shouri, Aura and Amika, who were arguing about something trivial.  
  
“It’s just a feeling, but I think I’m happier here than I was back in our world.” The lunar elemental looked over at her water counterpart with a serene smile.  
  
Pacifica just stared; mouth slightly agape. “I see.” Her lips curled into a smile.  
  
“Breaking news at the Aquarium opening” The TV said.  
  
“Blakki! Turn that up!” Shouri yelled out suddenly. Blakki fumbled with the remote for a second before turning the volume up.  
  
“Officials on the scene call the incident work of a professional.” The newscaster began  
  
“We were giving the opening speech and SLAM, the doors locked and sealed. The aquarium also doubles as a storm shelter. The system must have malfunctioned.” A representative of the aquarium said, being interviewed on-site.  
  
“The surveillance systems were fully wiped out, several tanks were destroyed, and many rare and exotic fish are unaccounted for.” The newscaster continued on. “The part that is puzzling officials is the complete lack of any evidence on the scene.”  
  
The apartment remained quiet.  
  
“You guys didn't-”Aura started, she looked around. The four younger adults in the room all looked down, averting their gazes from the eldest in the room.  
  
“It was a pair of scherzando that damaged the tank and ate the fish. We just got rid of the scherzando. The door thing and cameras, I have no idea.” Shouri glared at the ground. They had left the aquarium without much of a fuss. He thought it was too easy. He hated being right about his bad feelings.  
  
Amika walked over to the couch and sat next to Pacifica. “Haha, that’s a lucky break, huh?” The newbie maestro laughed nervously.  
  
“We were set up.” Shouri sighed, sitting down in the chair next to the dining room table.  
  
“But how could someone arrange all of that? It doesn't seem possible.” Amika frowned, not believing the circumstances. They were loud when they were fighting. Come to think of it, NO ONE was around. Not even the workers. It was slowly coming together for the maestro.  
  
“It’s gotta be him.” Shouri spoke up suddenly  
“The man in the black suit.” Blakki chimed in.  
  
A man in a black suit, that seemed to be related to this? That struck Amika as someone familiar. “Waaaiiiit. Does he wear sunglasses and have brown hair?” She could see Shouri pale slightly as soon as she said that  
  
“How do you know that?”  
“Me and Leo met him the day after Leo found you in the streets. What did he say to us?” Amika tried to remember. She suddenly snapped her fingers. “Oh yeah! He said: “Your friend is playing a dangerous game, you best not get involved.” and then vanished.” She frowned, having fully recalled that strange encounter. She shrugged. “I guess I know what he meant by that now.”  
  
“He already knew even then.” Shouri hissed to himself, grinding his teeth in frustration at the situation.  
  
“Just who is that guy? We didn't see him at the building we burnt down” Blakki pondered. Amika and Pacifica looked over at the lunar resonator in shock at what she had just said. “What?! It was an accident. Mostly.” She muttered the last part.  
  
“If only we had some way of finding out more information. Like someone close to him or something.” Blakki pondered aloud.  
  
No one but Pacifica seemed to notice Shouri’s rapid change in expressions. He knew something that Blakki didn’t. What was he hiding from his resonator?  
  
Looking around, nobody else seemed to notice. She didn’t want to butt in. Maybe she could talk to Shouri alone at some point?  
  
Amika suddenly spoke up. “Anyways, I don't want Leo involved with this. He's sweet and I care about him a lot.” She reached down into her schoolbag. She pulled out the tuner Leo had obtained from the crystal ball. “Shouri, I want you to keep this. It's Leo's.” Amika threw the device to Shouri, who caught it and looked at it.  
  
Shouri looked over the device. It was deactivated, clear plastic and unresponsive. “You said he threw it away. What happened?”  
  
“We met with your friend. Sonia?”  
“You busy bodies…”  
“Hey we didn’t fuckin’ know what we were dealing with!”  
  
Amika recomposed herself. “Anyways, her resonator showed off his _electric_ personality. Leo dragged me out and we got into an argument. He hasn’t talked to me since.” She stared at the ground. Pacifica could feel just how much that had hurt her. This Leo person meant a lot to her.  
  
“We should get going.” Amika stood up. She held out a hand for her resonator who happily accepted it.  
  
Aura picked up her keys from the dining room table where they had been haphazardly thrown when they initially arrived. “I'll take you two home.” The older woman told the new maestro, spinning her keys on her index finger.  
  
“We’re fine. It’s not too far.” Amika shook her head.  
  
Shouri interjected. “No, Aura's going to take you home. You're still getting used to this. You may get attacked.”  
  
Amika glared at the veteran maestro. She studied his expression for a moment. Finally, her expression lightened and she sighed. “Alright, fine.”  
  
Pacifica remained quiet, lost in her own thoughts, she followed Amika out the door, and down the stairs to Aura's car.

Arriving back at her own apartment, Amika unlocked the door to her house and walked in, Pacifica close behind. “Here we are, home sweet home.” The hostess locked the door behind them. The guest looked around the house. It was small, like Shouri's house, but it was a lot cleaner. There also appeared to be less furniture than was in the other home.  
  
“Just me and my mom live here. She’s working most of the time.” Amika spoke up suddenly. “Mostly to help put me through college.” She added quietly. Pacifica turned around. “And I don't want to introduce you two just yet. I don't want her to worry. I’m sorry Pacifica” The maestro bit her lip and averted her gaze.  
  
“It's fine.” Pacifica smiled. “Whenever you're ready.” The girl added. Just having a roof over her head was way better than the alternative.  
  
Amika returned her resonator’s smile in kind. “Thank you for putting up with me.” To interrupt the touching moment however, there was a loud growling sound. Pacifica’s face turned bright red looking down and holding her own stomach.  
  
“C-can we eat something? I don't know when I ate last.”The resonator laughed nervously.  
  
The maestro couldn’t help but giggle. She reached out and patted the other girl’s head. “Sure.”  
  
\---  
  
As most prepared for the eight or so hours they would use for sleep, another pair ran down the dark, desolate streets of the small town they all called home.  
  
“Lanciafiamme, Forte!”  
  
A girl with brown rabbit ears swiped her hand as if beckoning a wave. With this movement, she did create a wave, however this was one of fire. The wave washed over a small horde of plant-like scherzando. The null-element resonator Ally took a second to catch her breath. She turned to her maestro.  
  
Faith walked up behind her, hands in her pockets. “That’s the seventh batch tonight.”  
  
Ally wiped some sweat from her brow, her eyes showing an uncharacteristically confident glare. Despite the confidence she seemed to have, inside the back-to-back engagements were getting to her. The rabbit-girl wouldn’t stop though. Not until she was broken. “Good. Let's keep going.”  
  
“Alright.” Faith nodded and with that the two walked off to find their next opponent.  
  
“ACK!” Ally landed on the ground with a thud.  
  
“Up up up!” Faith shouted. Their enemy was a large brown bear like scherzando that despite the name of the creature that it seemed to be based on was not in fact brown but a bright yellow. Electricity arced down its body.  
  
The creature roared, holding up its claws threateningly. “Heh, that actually hurt.” The null-resonator hopped to her feet. “We’re not losing to this small fry. Colpito da una Roccia, Fortissimo!” Faith commanded. Ally nodded and ran at the scherzando. She slid under the creature and hopped to her feet. She raised both hands and rapidly formed a huge boulder above her. The bear scherzando turned, but it was too late  
  
SLAM  
  
What was once an electric bear, was now a boulder, the creature crushed like a mere insect. “Let's keep going Faith.” Ally panted as she walked up to her maestro.  
  
“Training hard as usual I see.”  
  
The pair turned, dropping back into combative stances immediately. Standing on a nearby power lines stood a girl with magenta hair tied into a bun. Her glowing yellow eyes looked smugly down on the pair of girls standing in the middle of the street.  
  
Faith relaxed. “Oh, it’s just you Seven.” Unlike her maestro, Ally didn’t relax and remained ready to fight, even going as far to bare her teeth towards the artificial resonator.  
  
Seven hopped down from the electrical line and landed on the ground.  
  
“What do we owe the unpleasant surprise? Another ploy to convince me to be your maestro?” Faith asked. Despite relaxing, she kept a careful watch of the yellow-eyed resonator.  
  
“Actually no. Turns out you were just a phase for me.” Seven chuckled, shrugging.  
  
Faith smirked back, folding her arms across her chest. “I feel sorry for whatever fool drew your sick attention.” Ally was laser focused on Seven. Even if she didn’t have any rhythm backing her, the rabbit-girl had been practicing her right hook for just such an occasion.  
  
“So why are you here? You don’t just show up to chat.” Faith asked, cutting to the heart of the issue  
  
“Well-” Seven smirked and vanished. She appeared in behind Faith, wrapping her arms around the other girl.  
  
“Faith!” Ally shouted.  
  
“Father found it.” Seven whispered ever so quietly to Faith.  
  
That earned a gulp. The normally confident and abrasive maestro wore an expression of fear. A visible sweat formed as her eyes went wide. “W-wait… he didn't…”  
  
“Get away from my maestro!” Ally went to grab Seven and pull her away from Faith, but the artificial resonator vanished again. She re-appeared, floating in the sky. “As the strongest maestro I know, I felt you needed to know. Use this information as you wish dearest Faith.” Seven declared.  
  
She was gone in the next moment.  
  
After a moment of silence Ally spoke up. “He doesn’t know what he’s messing with. What should we do Faith?”  
  
The maestro gritted her teeth hard enough for it to be audible. Her fists were balled up tight enough to turn them white. “This fucking sucks. God damn it. Fucking morons.” She growled. Finally, she released the built-up tension, sitting down on the street curb and sighing.  
  
“We need to warn the others.” Ally knelt down in front of her maestro.  
  
“I dunno. This is our problem. We don’t need outsiders interjecting.” Faith looked up at her resonator.  
  
Ally’s expression wavered. She averted her gaze. This line of thinking was wrong. The entire situation was rapidly spiraling out of control and the rabbit-girl knew it. But her beloved maestro always shouldered the entire world’s burdens. It was one of her strengths.  
  
And also her greatest weakness  
  
“I just wish we had gotten stronger before they found it.” Faith shook her head, standing up.  
  
“I’m sorry Faith.” Ally joined her maestro in standing, however, her head hung low.  
  
Faith shook her head. She placed a hand on her partner’s shoulder “None of that. Let’s get some rest. Not gonna be able to focus on training like this.” Her hand dropped down to grab Ally’s hand. “I just hope that this doesn’t attract any unwanted attention.” Faith looked up at the night sky, wondering what their future would hold.  
  
\---------  
  
Ally opened her eyes. It was morning. The girl sat up and stretched. “Aaaah.” She smiled. The brown-clad girl got out of her bed and walked up to the window. She parted the tattered curtains. “Good morning world!” She announced to no one in particular. Walking out of the room, her smile faded as she found her maestro. Faith was sitting against the door, eyes closed.  
  
“Faith, go take a nap please.” Ally knelt down next to her maestro.  
  
The woman looked up slowly. Her eyes looked glazed over, there were dark bags to accompany the general dead expression she was returning. “I'm fine.” She pushed herself up, struggling to do so.  
  
Ally sighed. Her partner was bull-headed about the silliest things. “Faith, you haven't slept properly in two weeks.”  
  
Faith yawned, hobbling over to their small table. She practically collapsed into one of the two wood chairs they had. “Make me another cup of coffee and I'll be good.” She insisted.  
  
The null-resonator frowned, not approving for her maestro’s lack of concern for her own health. “Faith…”  
  
Looking over at the resonator, it was plain to see she was upset and conflicted. “What?”  
  
“You’re pushing yourself too far. I’m worried that you’ll end up in the hospital or worse.” The pair stared at each other for a minute in silence. Exhausted eyes met begging, pleading eyes. “Please Faith...”  
  
The other woman sighed, finally giving in to her resonator’s pleas. “Fine, just a few hours.”  
  
Ally smiled, nodding in agreement. “I will make sure nothing wakes you.” The maestro stood up.  
  
Slowly, she trudged over to her bedroom, stopping just before the doorframe. “Good night I guess.” Faith grumbled closing the door behind her.  
  
Ally's smile faded from her face. “Faith...”  
  
\---  
  
Meanwhile, Pacifica was spending her time in Amika's room. Her time with her maestro was spent similarly to the way Blakki spent her time with Shouri. Pacifica was lying next to Amika's bed, hidden by the aforementioned furniture.  
  
As the day wore on Amika would come and go, occasionally returning with food, or new things for the resonator to do.  
  
“Pacifica?” Amika whispered. The otter-girl heard the door open, close, and then lock. It was now early evening.  
  
The blonde-haired resonator poked her head up from behind the bed. “Amika!” The girl smiled, crawling onto the bed.  
  
“Dinner time.” The maestro smiled, giving a small plate of food to the girl.  
  
Her tail swished back and forth in excitement. “Thank you.” The girl smiled before hurriedly eating the food she had been given.  
  
A few more hours had passed, and Amika was finishing up her studying for some tests that were coming up within the next week or so. Even with the excitement of getting a resonator, she didn't have the luxury of slacking in her studies.  
  
Pacifica understood this and tried to keep herself occupied while her maestro studied. Now, however, she was fast asleep. Amika looked over and smiled. The otter girl was curled up kind of like a dog would sleep. After a moment of appreciating her sleeping partner, she turned her attention back to her book.  
  
Moments of silence passed, only being broken by the turn of a page. This was until the sound of the box spring squeaking disturbed the quiet tranquility of the room. Turning her attention to it, Amika noted Pacifica was sitting up and now wide awake. Her eyes were turned up in concern and she fretted about the bed nervously.  
  
Amika raised an eyebrow at her resonator’s sudden odd behavior. “Are you okay?”  
  
“N-No... something's wrong.” Pacifica stood up and walked over to the window, playing her hands on the glass. “We need to go out there.” She looked over at her maestro pleadingly.  
  
Within a few minutes the pair of girls were out on the dark, empty streets of their hometown. “How did I let you convince me to come out here?”Amika panted, wiping some sweat from her brow.  
  
“It's here.” Pacifica pointed to an abandoned building that they had stopped in front of. The actual resident of the town recognized it as an abandoned woodmill. In the earlier days of their town, it was a popular for the abundant lumber that was all around. That was before the pesky government stepped in and started caring about nature and such.  
  
As a result, many factories and mills like this one stood as relics of their time, remaining unused and unkept. The grass around the building was growing up out of the cracks it found, and vines had slowly began to overtake the building. It seemed the city was fine with allowing nature to reclaim the property.  
  
“How do we get in?” Amika asked, she walked up to a chain-link fence. Very painful looking barbed wire lined the top of the fence, preventing them from climbing it. Probably a result of dumb teenagers getting themselves hurt previous, or that’s at least something she remembered Shouri saying at one point. He was such an old man at hear (at least in her opinion)  
  
Back in the present, Pacifica really wanted to be one of those dumb teenagers it seemed. “Make me attack it.” She suggested.  
  
“That's stu-” She paused mid-thought and mulled that over. “Actually, I don't really have any better ideas.” Amika shrugged.They walked around the fence a bit, finding a gate with a rather large deadbolt on it. “Alright, attacking.” The two looked over the spells Pacifica had learned on the tuner.  
  
“I haven’t tried that water one yet.” Pacifica pointed to the first spell on the list. “Might as well see what it does, right?” She looked up at her maestro.  
  
The non-native speaker mouthed out the spell a couple of times. “Okay, yeah, let’s try it.” Stepping back, Amika and Pacifica got into position.  
  
The brown-haired girl nervously checked her tuner a couple of times before reading it off. “Idrante, Pianissimo!” She called out.  
  
Pacifica held out her hand and shot a needle of water at the lock. Despite how small the target was, she was able to hit it dead on. The pair rushed over and inspected the lock. It seemed to do some minor damage to the lock. It definitely wouldn’t operate properly now. However, it held firm.  
  
“Hey, the other spell has a second level now.”  
  
The water resonator looked over at her maestro, who was inspecting the tuner once more. “Wanna try it?”  
  
Amika nodded. “Might as well.” Back into positions once more. After a moment of silence, the command came out. “Ghiacciolo, Piano!” Immediately the maestro felt a stronger draw on her body than when using first level spells. The result however, was definitely worth it. When the needle made impact, rather than just colliding with the target, there was a small explosion of ice where it impacted.  
  
The ice needle had broken through the casing of the lock where the metal had been weakened by the first attack. The explosion of ice tore the compromised body of the device apart. Pacifica walked up to the gate and kicked it open, the destroyed lock falling off and getting lost in the tall grass.  
  
“Easy!” The otter girl grinned toothily making a V with her fingers.  
  
Amika laughed and couldn’t help smiling herself.  
  
“Now, let’s find whatever is causing this feeling.” Pacifica pointed towards the building proper. They walked around the property for a bit. There was a fair bit of scrap metal visible around property despite the encroachment of nature.  
  
Pacifica shuddered. The pair came to a stop. “It’s not out here. Whatever it is has to be inside the building.”  
  
The maestro gulped. It was already pretty dark around the building. Visibility had to be non-existent inside of the structure proper. “Let's go in then.”  
  
The two girls pushed the large doors to the abandoned building open. From the moonlight filtering through the shattered windows, they could make out dilapidated machinery. Of course, just like the outside, nature was finding its way inside and was beginning the slow, gradual process of overtaking the abandoned machines.   
  
“This is creepy, Pacifica, are you sure it's in here?”Amika whimpered as they walked in.  
  
The other girl nodded hesitantly, “Yeah...” She gulped, her own heart racing from what she was feeling. The overwhelming dread and crushing pressure that drew her to this location like a whirlpool.  
  
The two heard a noise coming from the back of the factory. It was the sound of grinding metal. They saw a shape form. A large ball of various scrap metal. Pushing this ball was a large beetle shaped creature, though this beetle was much larger than the current atmospheric oxygen level should have allowed.  
  
“Is that-?  
“-a scherzando?”  
  
The pair of girls wouldn’t have too much time to question this, as the beetle creature noticed their presence and launched the ball of steel at them. They both dodged in opposite directions.  
  
“Ghiacciolo, Piano!”  
  
Pacifica threw several ice needles at the opposing scherzando, however, an arc of electricity from the creature licked up the ice before it even reached the main body.  
  
“Uh-oh…” Pacifica blinked, unsure of what to do. That was currently their best spell and this thing evaporated it before they even got a hit on it.  
  
Amika gritted her teeth, but she wasn’t weak. She wasn’t going to let a literal bug best them. “We’ll overwhelm it then! Ghiacciolo, Piano!” She called out once more.  
  
Dodging another charge by the beetle scherzando, the water resonator threw another series of needles at her target. Once more they were fizzled out by a bolt of lightning.  
  
“Ghiacciolo, Piano!”  
“Ghiacciolo, Piano!”  
“Ghiacciolo, Piano!”  
  
Each desperate shout of the spell became harder and harder to get out. Amika panted hard. She could feel each individual heart beat in her chest. The rising fear coupled with the exhaustion she that was overtaking her was unlike any stress she had ever felt before.  
  
“AAAUGH!” The maestro looked up to see her resonator stunned by a bolt of lightning. The beetle began to charge at the staggered otter girl.  
  
“PACIFICA!”  
  
The resonator flew through the air having been rammed into by the scherzando. Rather than landing on the hard, concrete floor, however, she landed on a warm, fleshy body.  
  
“Y-you okay?” Amika managed to get out, holding onto the other girl.  
  
Pacifica groaned in pain. Despite being saved from the harsh landing the successive blows still hurt. “Barely.”  
  
Before either girl could move their vision was invaded by a bright, blinding light. Their bodies tingled as pain raced up and down their forms. It all happened so slowly, so every millisecond felt like a full minute.  
  
CRACK BOOM  
  
A horrible noise, one that seemed to come after it was all over.  
  
Amika laid there, unable to move. Pacifica was totally unconscious at this point. Slowly, the giant beetle approached. The maestro’s vision swam, slowly fading as she desperately fought to hold onto her own consciousness. Either from exhaustion or fright, her vision finally gave out, and all she was left with were these final words:  
  
“Colpito da una Roccia, Fortissimo.”


	20. Chapter 20

Electricity, it hurt. Numbed the body but at the same time burned it and hurt in a way no physical object could manage.  
  
I failed her.  
I brought her into this.  
I am dangerous.  
  
Why does this feel so familiar? Why does it hurt more this time?  
  
A pair of red eyes slowly opened. Another pair of red eyes stared down into them. “Toldjya, she’s alive. You all have zero faith in me.” The owner of the other pair of red eyes spoke up.  
  
blink blink  
  
“Amika!” Pacifica gasped out, shoving the other red-eyed person out of her way. Immediately she noticed she wasn’t where she had lost consciousness.  
  
“Buongiorno, she's at her house.” Blakki piped up, sitting at a table nearby. Pacifica looked around, taking inventory of her current situation. She was in a dark cafe looking place. She was laying on a pile of blankets that looked like they were just haphazardly pulled from their resting place in a dark closet somewhere. The person she had just knocked away was standing now, dusting off his silver and gold robes.  
  
“Rude.” The boy huffed, shooting an irritated glance in the water-resonator’s direction.  
  
The otter girl raised an eyebrow. “Who are you?”  
  
The boy in question looked nearly offended for a second before switching to an expression of pity. “ME?! Why I'm the modest wish sage Sahji.” The boy replied, bowing.  
  
“Never heard of you. Blakki, is Amika alright?” Pacifica asked, deciding Sahji was useless to her.  
  
Blakki’s smile faded. “Yeah. She was just upset.”  
  
She looked down, immediately jumping to conclusion. “Oh, I knew it… I'm the worst resonator.”  
  
The lunar resonator realized what she said was interpreted wrong. “No no no. She was mad at herself!” Blakki replied quickly, shaking her head.  
  
Confusion was written all over the other girl’s face. “Why? I lost. She could have died.” Pacifica looked up.  
  
The black-haired girl pondered that, recalling exactly what was said. “She said she felt like she failed you as a maestro.”  
  
Pacifica didn’t like that line of thinking and would need to speak to Amika about that later. “I see...” She looked down at the ground. Suddenly she perked back up. “Wait a second, how did you know where to find us?” She asked, having realizing that Blakki and company couldn't have possibly known where to find them.  
  
The lunar resonator blinked, not expecting that question. “Well we didn’t-”  
  
The door to the shop opened at that point, cutting Blakki off. “Sonia called us, having brought you both here.” Shouri told her as he walked into the shop. In each hand he carried a brown bag from the local fast food dispensary.  
  
He tossed a bag to Pacifica as he walked by, who haphazardly caught it. The maestro sat next to his own resonator and gave her the food he had brought for the two of them.  
  
“So where are we?” Pacifica decided to ask as she unbagged the food that was provided to her.  
  
“This is Sahji’s, he's a god or something.” Blakki threw an incorrect statement out there, waiting for the “god” in question to take the bait so she could eat.  
  
It seemed Blakki already knew Sahji very well, as he snapped up the bait like a hungry trout, taking exception to the improper titling he had been given. “I’m a sage thank you.” He spoke with a huff.  
  
“Sage?” Pacfica asked, still unfamiliar with this strange boy.  
  
“Yes, there are a small number of us. I am the Wish sage.” Sahji started.  
  
The otter girl mulled that over a bite of hash brown. Swallowing her food, she continued her questioning. “Why wish? That seems a bit arbitrary.” Pacifica asked before taking another bite of her food.  
  
Sahji walked over to a bookshelf as he began his explanation. “Actually, Wish is just a buzzword, I am actually the sage of Hope.” Pulling a book down, he dusted it off and continued the exposition. “Besides me, there are a few others like I said. Lanvi the Land, Luca the Life, Marovo the Sea, Cielto the Sky, Seres the Time, and Kitori the Victory. We all serve under god, known as Civeo” Sahji explained.  
  
“Each sage has an artifact, or muse associated with them that embodies their power should they be absent in their realm.” The sage coughed and muttered something about Kitori.  
  
“I see. So it's just the sages and then Civeo?” Blakki asked, having used the explanation prior to finish her breakfast sandwich. She picked up her own hashbrown, knowing very well that Sahji would launch into another lengthy explanation.  
  
And launch he did: “Oh heavens no! There are the Knights of Civeo, who act as his personal body guards, the Noble swords, and the Watchers of Civeo, just to name a few groups of ethereals.”  
  
Shouri decided to speak up himself, already done with his own food. “Ethereals? Haven’t heard that term before.”  
  
“Of course not, it’s more commonly thrown around in the other world. Ethereals are kinda like your world’s Greek pantheon and such. Legends, or myths, except these people are real.” Sahji set a book down in front of Shouri. It was an old tome, like something you’d see in a museum. A foreign script decorated the hard wood cover of the book in question.  
  
Flipping it open to a random page revealed text in a similar script. “What language is this?” He asked, looking up at the sage.  
  
“Rhythm script, think of it like braille but rhythm.” Sahji smirked.  
  
The maestro stared skeptically at the crazy sage. The pages were plainly flat and braille was a touch-based language so he was implying this flat text worked on touch? Shouri frowned hard, but decided to humor the blond-haired boy. With his index finger he dragged his finger down what appeared to be a sentence.  
  
Sahji’s smirk would grow in intensity as he watched Shouri’s skepticism fade away. “Well, what does it say Shouri-boy?”  
  
“The muse owned by Sahji the sage of Hope, known as “The End of Desire” is a blade which as the name implies has the ability to end the wishes of those impaled on it. It has two distinct vehicles in which to do this:  
  
1\. It will grant the strongest wish of the target, no matter how impossible it may be  
Or  
2\. It will “end” the target’s desire by way of execution”  
  
Shouri looked up after reading that explanation. “That can’t be real.” He almost challenged the sage.  
  
From his robes, Sahji produced a blade. It was a standard European short sword with engravings on the face of the blade which appeared to be another foreign language. “This blade has ended quite a few people’s desires, though it would be in bad taste to tell you who I’ve granted usage of this blade to.”  
  
“You’ll let anyone use that blade?” Shouri questioned.  
  
“Sure.” Sahji flipped the weapon around, holding it by the blade. He held it hilt-first towards the maestro. “Is your wish strong enough to best my blade?”  
  
Blakki stared at her maestro in awe, in turn he stared at the blade being presented to him. The blade that was held in front of him had the ability to grant any wish conceivable. A legendary construct that could make a mere idea into the genuine article.  
  
However, it came at the greatest risk possible.  
  
“Pft, get that toy away from me.” Shouri batted the hilt away. “I bet that’s an old wives’ tale you use to get idiots to off themselves for shits and giggles.”  
  
Sahji laughed, returning the blade to his robes. “Perhaps you’re right. At any rate, you may borrow that book for a while.”  
  
“Why?” Blakki blurted out.  
  
Sahji sighed. He spoke rather uneasily. “Call it a… premonition.”


	21. Chapter 21

Most people when electrocuted to the point of unconsciousness would call out of work or stay home from school the following day.  
  
Amika Castillo would call those people weak, which she was proving at this very moment by still attending her college classes despite what happened the night prior.  
  
“Uhg…” As it turned out, sheer concentrated willpower wasn’t a substitute for a restful and full nights sleep in a bed. Her head was presently resting on her arms as she decided whether or not she would try to sleep for a few minutes before the lecture.  
  
This decision was made for her however when Leo sat down next to her.  
  
“Hey.” He spoke up.  
  
The brown-haired girl raised her head from her arms, face simply dripping with irritation. “What?”  
  
Leo didn’t flinch at the annoyed expression that was being shot his way. “I know you’re mad at me and I wanted to apologize. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I’m sorry.”  
  
The now maestro mulled over what she would say back for a moment, then gave her reply. “No, you were right. It was dangerous. It’s probably best we not get involved.” She lied through her teeth. Despite the bold faced lie she was giving her best friend, she didn’t feel an ounce of guilt about it.  
  
She was protecting him.  
  
He couldn’t handle this world. What she went through last night. So as far as he was concerned, the night he threw his tuner away was the end of that story.  
  
“Oh, well. I uh.” Leo wasn’t sure what to say. Amika was normally so stubborn and bull-headed about these kinds of things. Maybe she was as shaken up as he had been. There was still one pressing matter to address though. “I still shouldn’t have yelled at you, that was wrong, at least accept that part of my apology.”  
  
Amika smiled. “Sure. You can make it up to me by buying my lunch today.”  
  
The boy laughed. “That’s fair.”  
  
“I’m getting the fancy steak dinner.”  
“That’s dinner not lunch.”  
“They serve it during lunch.”  
“But that’s like thirty bucks”  
“You yelled at me.”  
“Fine fine. You get your steak.”  
  
The girl giggled, grinning toothily at her victory. Her smile faded as she turned her head away from Leo. While she was glad to have her dear friend back, the problem was now she had to maintain a lie. Meaning her tuner would need to stay out of sight, along with Pacifica.  
  
\-----  
  
Bzzznt bzznt  
  
Shouri pulled his phone out of his pocket. They were still lounging around Sahji’s waiting for Amika to get out of school (much to the sage’s chagrin). “Well gang, looks like we need to get out of here.” The maestro looked over to the two resonators.  
  
“Eh, come mai, Sho?” Blakki tilted her head.  
  
“Amika is hanging out with Leo, so she’ll pick up Pacifica from our place.” He told his resonator, and in turn broadcasting this info to the other resonator in the room. The otter girl frowned. Why would Amika go out with friends rather than come get her?  
  
The maestro in the room noticed Pacifica’s defeated expression. It was like she was the last child being picked up from daycare, all alone, dejected. “Amika probably said something stupid or silly and roped herself into this. She probably wanted to come see you as soon as possible.” Shouri told the water resonator.  
  
This didn’t improve her mood. “I guess.”  
  
Blakki and Shouri exchanged a glance. “C-come on Pacifica. We can play some games at home.” The other resonator offered. The only earned a slow nod and the girl rising to her feet. Blakki frowned, unsure of what to do to raise the defeated girl’s mood.  
  
The trio bid Sahji farewell and left the shop.  
  
It wouldn’t be a quiet trip home like they were hoping.  
  
“Hey rookie!”  
  
The small group came to a stop. Blakki and Shouri would recognize the voice, Pacifica however would meet another pair that inhabited their town.  
  
An extra annoyed Faith, (and an extra apologetic Ally) walked up to the trio. The maestro who called out to the group looked them over. Shouri was holding a weird book of some kind, and the two girls…  
  
Both resonators, as the veteran maestro had suspected. “Getting a second resonator isn’t going to make your life easier you know. The rhythm comes from you.” Faith practically growled at Shouri.  
  
“She’s not mine. She’s my friend’s resonator.” Shouri clarified.  
  
Faith looked over the water resonator. “Water… Piercing right?” She asked the otter girl.  
  
Poor Pacifica shrunk, feeling smaller than Faith even though she had a few inches on the maestro height wise. “I am.” She sheepishly answered.  
  
“I see.” She looked over the resonator. Then she turned to Shouri. “Do you even have her tuner? What if you’re attacked while she’s under your care? What will you do?”  
  
“Jesus what the fuck is your problem? You came up chastising me about having two resonators, then you grill me about not being prepared to use two resonators? Make up your mind.” Shouri growled at the other girl.  
  
Ally seeing the situation deteriorating quickly stepped around her maestro, getting between the two maestros. “F-faith I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.”  
  
Faith pondered that thought. She looked over her resonator at Shouri and Blakki. “Do you?”  
  
“Of course I do. I’m not an idiot like you seem to think I am.” He glared. Faith glanced over at Blakki. In their previous encounters the lunar resonator reacted a lot like Ally would, showing a fearful disdain of conflict. However, this time…  
  
“Eh?” Faith’s expression lightened. Blakki held the exact same glare Shouri was. It wasn’t that she was mad like her maestro was, but the way she held herself and her expression almost mirrored her maestro’s.  
  
Not even Ally would mimic her in such a way. It was almost as if the pair was synchronized.  
  
“Come with me.” She decided suddenly.  
  
That comment was disarming. “What?” Shouri asked.  
  
Faith turned and began to walk. “Follow me. I want you to show me something.”  
  
The trio watched Faith and Ally walk away. “What should we do Sho?” Blakki asked. He looked over to Pacifica, who was just as confused at the situation as they were.  
  
“I guess we follow and see what the hell she wants.” He sighed. The boy looked down at the book in his arms. “Really wanted to read some of this too.” He grumbled, beginning to follow the other maestro and her resonator.  
  
\-----  
  
The group of now five had made their way down to an abandoned warehouse in the same district that Amika and Pacifica had visited the night prior. Naturally the water resonator was nervous about returning to this area after what had happened less than twelve hours ago, but there were two other maestros and their partners with her this time, so if anything did jump out they would be on top of it.  
  
Or at least that’s what she had hoped.  
  
“So why are we here?” Shouri called out.  
  
Faith slowed to a stop and turned to face the other three. She folded her arms across her chest, staring the other maestro down before speaking. “Fight me.” She finally declared.  
  
“Wh-what?” Shouri gulped. He gritted his teeth, he stood on the tips of his feet ready to move at a moment’s notice. “You’re joking.” He knew she wasn’t joking when she unpocketed her own tuner and her resonator dropped into a combative stance.  
  
Shouri passed Pacifica the book he had been holding. “Stay close to me Pacifica.” He advised. “Blakki and I will keep you safe.” He muttered.  
  
“R-right.” Pacifica gulped, now holding onto the book from Sahji’s shop. Why was this happening? Was it because she was with Shouri right now? This was only happening because she had lost last night. If she was stronger, they would have beaten that scherzando last night and they wouldn’t have had to been saved by someone.  
  
“Luce del Sole, Forte!”  
“Passo Silenzioso, Presto Staccato!”  
  
Ally created a wave of solar energy that rolled towards Blakki. The fox girl vanished and appeared on the other side of the wave. Faith raised an eyebrow, watching Shouri and Pacifica dodge the incoming wave themselves.  
  
“Luce del Sole, Forte!”  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
The commands were given in unison to the resonators. However, there was something odd that Faith picked up on. As Shouri was halfway through his command, she caught that Blakki was already creating the attack. That shouldn’t have been possible. The commands were spells. The whole thing needed to be read out before the rhythm gets passed to the tuner and then to the resonator.

  
“Respingere, Mosso!” Faith blurted out at the last second. An instant barrier blocked the blob of lunar energy Blakki had managed to get past the wave of solar energy. Solar and lunar attacks cancelled each other out. So in a fight between those elements, it would be the faster maestro who would win.  
  
However, Blakki had the ability to dodge the waves with the Passo Silenzioso that she could cast whenever she needed it. Faith had to level this out. Ally couldn’t dodge like that, but Ally was a Shield attribute.  
  
“Respingere, Mosso Staccatissimo!”  
  
Shouri gritted his teeth. Great, this was going to be a battle of attrition, meaning he was at a distinct disadvantage. Faith had been doing this way longer. Long enough that he knew she had access to Fortissimo level spells. He only knew those existed because she had used them in front of him before.  
  
Faith was only looking for one thing though: how fast their spell speed was. It should have been impossible to cast faster than the spell is read out. But here she was, trying to make her resonator dual cast shields and attacks in order to see this again and again.  
  
“Luce del Sole, Forte!”  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
Once again, Blakki was creating the attack when Shouri had finished “Luce” the rest of the spell was just a formality it seemed. Ally was halfway through swinging her arm when she had to interrupt her own attack to cast a Respingere to block the Luce Lunare.  
  
“Faith, how is she so fast?!” Ally hissed to her partner.  
“Dunno, trying to figure that out!” Faith whispered back. “We’ll just have to step up our game!”  
  
“Luce del Sole, Fortissimo!”  
“Mente Offuscata, Forte!”  
  
As soon as the first half of Shouri’s spell was read out, it was already over and Faith knew it. When she reached the end of her own spell, Ally was already reeling back from the attack on her mind.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
And then, while she was trying to recover from her focus being broken, a blob of lunar energy smashed into the rabbit-girl, throwing her off her feet and sending her to the ground.  
  
Faith gripped her tuner tightly, her teeth clenched so tightly it seemed as if they would start cracking under the pressure.  
  
“We-“  
“-won?”  
  
Blakki and Shouri looked shocked themselves at this turn of events. It was such a simple strategy that the other pair should have been able to easily block it. But Blakki seemed almost faster than her competition. It was weird. They were finishing their spells at the same time, but Shouri was starting to notice as the exchanges went on that their attacks reached their target first. Shouldn’t they have met at the same time?  
  
So, he simply applied basic strategy. If he was going first and he could stop the enemy’s attacks, they could get a solid blow in. Thankfully Blakki’s lunar-element spells gave her the perfect tool for this task: a mental attack that couldn’t be blocked by a simple barrier and would cause the target to break concentration.  
  
Faith helped her resonator to her feet. “Are you okay Ally?” She asked quietly. “I-I am Faith. I’m sorry I lost.” She muttered back.  
  
The maestro shook her head. “No, it’s fine. There’s something strange about those two.”  
  
Shouri glared at the other pair. “Well, are we done here?!” He shouted to his defeated opponents.  
  
“Yeah we’re done here!” She shouted back. “What’s your name by the way?” Faith asked out of nowhere.  
  
The boy pondered how to answer that question. He decided against being a sarcastic asshole and answered honestly. “Shouri!”  
  
Faith smirked. “Fine then. See you around, Shouri!” And with that, she turned and walked off with her resonator in tow.  
  
Pacifica and Blakki looked to Shouri, who held a look of contempt towards the other maestro. “What a fucking psychopath.” He finally said when she was out of earshot.  
  
\---  
  
Several hours had passed an a scherzando decided it was a good night for a stroll through the town. Blakki and Shouri would intercept the Solar-element crab scherzando that graced their town. The scherzando had no spells to read, they just attacked whenever they wanted to.  
  
A prime target to test Blakki’s theory on.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Piano!”  
  
Blakki chucked a ball of lunar energy at the opposing scherzando, who countered with a similar ball of solar energy.  
  
“Sho! Wait until the scherzando starts charging it’s attack, I want to try something!” Blakki called back to her maestro.  
  
“Eh? Okay?” Said maestro was confused, but complied with his resonator’s request.  
  
The pair waited for a moment. Finally, after a half a minute or so the crab brought its claw around and began to form a ball of solar energy.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Piano!”  
  
Right when the crab finished it’s ball of solar energy, Blakki was already mid-throw of her own ball of lunar energy. The two orbs met only inches away from the opposing scherzando’s body.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
And then the crab was dealt with.  
  
As the pair walked back home, Blakki still seemed bothered by what she herself witnessed during this fight. “I was fast. I know the crab finished preparing it’s attack when you finished saying “Piano” but by body was already mid-throw.” Shouri stared at his resonator as she pondered this strange phenomenon aloud.  
  
“Maybe it’s like a pure-element thing. Like since you’re not a null element, your potential is so much higher.” Shouri suggested.  
  
The girl giggled. “I thought the same thing too.” Her smile faded quickly however. “But I just don’t feel like that’s the right explanation.”  
  
The duo came to a stop in the darkness between a pair of streetlamps. “Maybe that man in the suit will show up again and we can fight him.” Blakki said in an odd show of bravery from the normally reserved fox-girl.  
  
“Let’s not tempt fate Blakki.” Shouri laughed nervously.  
  
\---  
  
While Shouri and Blakki were no doubt only getting ready for bed, Amika and Pacifica were just waking up for the day.  
  
The otter girl stretched at the end of the bed, seeming to prefer curling up at the end of Amika’s bed like a dog. Now sprawled out, she looked over for her maestro, who had ignored her alarm and was trying to sleep longer.  
  
“Amika, wake up, you gotta go to school.” Pacifica shook the other girl’s legs in an effort to wake her up.  
  
“Uhhhgh… kill me…” The maestro in question groaned, raising her head from her pillow. After a moment her arm practically oozed over and snatched her phone from the nightstand next to her bed. Drawing the device into the prison of blankets, its owner would gaze upon its illuminated screen.  
  
Amika would rise for her college classes minutes later. One quick dressing session later and Amika was by her vanity, scooping up her bag and tuner for another day of learning. “If you wanna go hang out with Shouri and Blakki, I’ll leave the key for you, make sure you lock up.” She instructed her resonator.  
  
“Mhm.” The otter girl nodded with a smile. She would do just that. It was boring lazing about Amika’s room with nothing to do. She didn’t really have a social life outside of her fellow resonators. Or resonator. She only really knew Blakki. Ally couldn’t even be called an acquaintance. Lastly, she never even met Vinci. Maybe she’d fix that today.  
  
Before Amika left the room however, she stopped just shy of the door. “Go straight to Shouri’s if you do go. I have no way of contacting you otherwise.” She warned.  
  
“Relax ‘mika, I’ll be fine.”  
“I’m serious.”  
“I don’t really have anywhere else to go anyways ‘mika, you worry too much.”  
“Hmph.”  
  
And with that, the young otter-girl was left to her own devices.   
  
“Ah!” The girl flopped back onto the bed, spreading out. Perhaps she’d get a little bit more sleep before she headed out for the day. She wasn’t allowed to leave until Amika’s mother went to work anyways, so it wouldn’t hurt to be well rested before her daily wandering.  
  
After roughly four rotations of an hour hand, it was now mid-morning. Most people in their small apartment complex were now at work, which meant young Pacifica was free to come and go at her leisure.  
  
She strolled on out of the apartment, spinning the key ring around her index finger. She left her tail and ears exposed, she didn’t really see the need to hide them despite the warnings of the more veteran resonator and maestro pair.  
  
After all, that rabbit girl and her maestro were just out in the open yesterday and nobody said a word. Even Shouri and Blakki didn’t seem bothered by the other pair’s flagrant lack of discretion. They even had a full on fight out in the open.  
  
By now she had memorized the path to Shouri’s place. It was relatively straightforward. Only three turns being required total. Mostly just straight lines cutting through the main part of town. With most people being at work during the mid-morning hours, the streets were only inhabited by college students who didn’t have a class or the few professionals who were too busy to pay the otter girl any mind.  
  
Except for one man.  
  
click click click  
  
“You animals are getting a bit too cocky.”  
  
Pacifica froze. The voice that uttered those words oozed ill intent, accompanied by the clicking of plastic. A cap being removed and replaced, slowly being worn away atop the device it was intended to protect.  
  
Then pain.  
  
“AAAUH…” Pacifica teared up, unable to turn back. A sharp pain in the back of her head where a tight grip around a bundle of her hair was being applied.  
  
“Do you really think you belong here?” The voice asked, their grip tightening and inducing further pain with it.  
  
“Ooww…. ‘mika… help me…” Tears rolled down the resonator’s face. This was fear. Before with the scherzando, she was scared, sure. However, this was different. Losing because you were overpowered was different from being totally powerless to do anything.  
  
As it stood at this moment in time, Pacifica was just a girl. A girl with strange ears and a tail, but still just a mere girl, no different from Amika herself.  
  
Suddenly she was thrown forward. Her knees gave out and she fell forward. Catching herself before she smashed against the concrete, she spun around backing up at the same time to put some distance between her and her attacker. However, no one was there.  
  
\---  
  
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
Blakki glanced up at the door, laying on the couch, watching some daytime television. She waited for Shouri to get it, but either he didn’t hear it, or he was employing the same strategy the resonator was. With a sigh, the girl got up. She could at least check the peep hole to see if it wasn’t one of their friends.  
  
A quick peep, showed it was indeed one of their friends.  
  
So, she threw the door open to greet their guest, and begin another day of fun.  
  
What she was met with was the slightly taller resonator throwing herself into Blakki’s arms and sobbing loudly.  
  
The noise drew Shouri out of his room who found a dumbstruck Blakki being held by a sobbing Pacifica. The lunar resonator looked back at her maestro, hoping he would have the answer or some direction.  
  
\---  
  
The sole maestro of the apartment walked back into the living room. “Amika is on her way.” Shouri said, holding his phone. Blakki and Pacifica sat on the couch. The otter girl sniffled, still trying to calm down.  
  
“So, what happened?” He asked, trying to get to the bottom of this. Blakki could only offer a shrug. Pacifica trembled, and after a moment she finally spoke.  
  
“I-I was walking over here and I heard clicking…” She sniffled. Shouri and Blakki both gulped, but allowed the girl to continue speaking. “I heard a v-voice that said “You animals are getting a bit too cocky” and then it hurt…” She broke down into sobs again.  
  
Blakki looked to Shouri, an obvious sweat on her face. They both nodded to each other, knowing exactly who Pacifica had the unfortunate chance to encounter.  
  
“How did he hurt you?” The lunar resonator asked quietly, patting the other girl’s back reassuringly.  
  
The scared girl was slowly coming down from her terror. “He grabbed me by my hair and held it tightly.”  
  
Silence  
  
The healer in the room decided to speak up. “Does it still hurt?”  
  
Pacifica shook her head. “No. I was just scared. I didn’t know what he was going to do.” She paused. “If I was going to vanish just like that. No fight, no noise…” She bit her bottom lip. “No mess.” The girl muttered quietly.  
  
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
The trio jumped and looked back at the door. They all stared at the inanimate object as if it was rearing up to attack them.  
  
“Hey! You called me! Open up!” Amika could be heard shouting from the other side.  
  
The other maestro was allowed into the home and was quickly brought up to speed on the situation.  
  
Amika, Pacifica and Blakki all sat on the couch, Shouri standing in front of them, arms folded across his chest. “So, you guys weren’t kidding about that guy in the suit huh?” The poor maestro was as shaken up as her resonator. She had hoped that they would never encounter the man that inspired fear in Shouri and Blakki.  
  
Shouri grunted, averting his gaze. “Yeah. We don’t know much about him, but he knows everything about us.” He grumbled. “Could be government based on the seemingly infinite resources he has.”  
  
“That’s not helping my confidence.” The brown-haired girl pouted.  
  
“I’m not a motivational speaker. I’m trying to keep you alive.”  
“I know you’re right, but I still don’t like it.”  
  
Amika rose to her feet. “I need to figure out what to do. I can’t just leave Pacifica at home, but I can’t bring her to my college classes.”  
  
The resonator in question felt bad about this. Not only was she putting Amika in danger just by being around her, but now she was complicating the other girl’s life. All for her.  
  
“A-amika you don’t have to.” Pacifica spoke up, looking to her maestro.  
  
Both maestros looked at the resonator like she was speaking a different language. “What are you talking about?” Amika spoke up.  
  
The otter girl fidgeted nervously. She smiled bittersweetly. “Well, I’m causing you all this trouble. I don’t really deserve this. I should just disappear...”  
  
“Pacifica shut-up.”  
  
Everyone stared at Blakki, who glared at the other resonator.  
  
“That’s really selfish of you, you know that?” The fox girl held firm as she stared into the other girl’s eyes.  
  
Pacifica didn’t understand, blinking twice before speaking up. “Wh-what?”  
  
“Scherzando eat rhythm. They don’t pose a threat to humans in this world, only maestros. We’re only viewed as the challenge to get to the food. If you’re not there, Amika will die.” The otter girl looked to her maestro who was staring at Blakki.  
  
“Also-” Shouri spoke up. “Do you really think that you’re going to be able to survive in this world on your own?” He asked. Pacifica remained quiet, taking the admonishment for her rash expression of her thoughts “Honestly, the man in the suit would probably snatch you up in a heartbeat and do god knows what to you.” The male maestro threw in as an afterthought.  
  
Finally, the female maestro spoke up. “Enough, both of you.” She knelt down in front of Pacifica and took her hands in her own. “I knew what I was getting into when I took my tuner. I even kept it on me when I found out what resonators were. Hell, I could have went and got someone to fish you out of that stingray tank at the aquarium that day.” She tightened her grip around her resonator’s hands.  
  
“We’re partners, and I’m not gonna let you sleep outside, or get snatched up by some government suit.” She smiled warmly.  
  
Tears came to Pacifica’s eyes. “’mika!” She shouted, sliding off of the couch and hugging her maestro tightly.  
  
Shouri rolled his eyes at the unneeded drama. Something did bother him though. The man in the suit physically assaulted Pacifica in broad daylight, on a busy city street no less. It made him think about when he was kidnapped before. It was also in broad daylight in the middle of a cemetery in the middle of town.  
  
How was he able to not only move around so effortlessly, but also almost get away with literal murder with no one else raising a fuss?  
  
He stole a glance to Blakki, who wore a big smile as she watched Pacifica and Amika.  
  
The maestro knew a way he could get the information he wanted.  
  
But it came at a cost.  
  
“Sho?” Blakki’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. The three girls in the room stared at him with concern.  
  
“Hm?” He raised an eyebrow.  
  
Amika laughed nervously. “You… uh looked pretty intense there for a moment. You alright?” She asked.  
  
He mulled that over for a moment before replying. “I’m fine. Just thinking about this situation.” He decided on. “That’s all.”


	22. Chapter 22

  
“Ghiacciolo, Piano!”  
  
With a few well-placed ice-needles, a feisty fire scherzando was dispatched. Amika and Pacifica walked home. Several days had passed since the unfortunate run-in with the mysterious man in the suit, and needless to say, the pair was vigilant and watchful when out and about.  
  
Any man in a suit prompted a careful and wary observation of the individual in question while the pair of girls would determine the threat level.  
  
They both knew they were being a bit jumpy about it, but they’d rather be careful than go through what Shouri and Blakki had gone through previously.  
  
Amika and Shouri even installed apps on their phones to track each other’s location, just in case something did happen.  
  
Speaking of smart phones, Amika was on hers, messaging Shouri that she was on her way home. A few seconds later, she received a reply that Shouri was on his way back to his home as well.  
  
“Everything go alright on their end?” Pacifica asked as they turned the corner and began walking down the street before their apartment complex.  
  
The maestro nodded. “Yup, just fine.”  
  
A smiled crept up on the resonator’s face. “That’s good.”  
  
Meanwhile, on the opposite end of town, Blakki and Shouri were making a similar pilgrimage home. “How did they do tonight?” The lunar resonator inquired, noting her maestro’s smart phone usage.  
  
“They got the fire scherzando this time, was a cake-walk apparently.” He replied simply, now taking the time to catch up on the news.  
  
Blakki nodded and smiled. “That’s good.” She replied simply. They returned to their silent walk. The resonator stayed close to her maestro, taking extra care to avoid losing track of him.  
  
Despite her careful, vigilant watch however, everything became foggy. What was happening?  
  
Blink blink  
  
Within the span of her eyes opening and closing, she went from the dark city streets to the floor in the closet. She sat up and threw open the door in a panic.  
  
Shouri laid in bed, sleeping as normal. The girl tried to calm her racing heart and catch her breath. What happened? She remembered walking down the street then waking up in the closet. She stood up and walked over to Shouri’s bed. No injuries, he breathed normally.  
  
Everything was fine.  
  
What was this sinking feeling in her heart though? It didn’t feel like it was just missing memories. She shook her head. She had no memories of the first eighteen or so years of her life. Random spots of missing memories shouldn’t be too alarming, but how could she just forget the previous night like that?  
  
\---  
  
The next night.  
  
“God damn it this one is being annoying!” Shouri cursed as they ran into the central park of their sleepy town. An elk-like scherzando skidded to a halt and turned, unleashing a flurry of blade-like leaves at the pair.  
  
Blakki phased between the assault using a previously activated Passo Silenzioso in Staccato. Shouri had commented earlier that it was more economical on his rhythm if she dodged attacks rather than tanking them.  
  
She wouldn’t argue because she only borrowed her maestro’s rhythm, and anything to avoid a little bit of pain in her life was something she could appreciate.  
  
“Mente Offuscata, Pianissimo!”  
  
The lunar resonator held out her hand and with a flash of lunar energy, the elk was stunned.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
A blob of rhythm converted to lunar energy finished the briefly stunned scherzando.  
  
The pair began their trek home. Blakki was determined to remain focused tonight. No repeats of the night prior.  
  
One of her plans was to make some small talk with Shouri. “I like our strategy lately.” She commented.  
  
The boy nodded, keeping his own gaze forward. “Scherzando aren’t as strong mentally as a resonator. Even a Pianissimo-level Mente Offuscata works to keep them distracted long enough to land a hit.” He analyzed it simply and effectively. His expression would sour immediately after that however. “Fuckers need to stop running as soon as they catch sight of us though.” He grumbled.  
  
“That is weird, isn’t it? They used to attack us almost relentlessly, but now as soon as we get close, they turn tail and run.” Blakki pondered aloud. When did that start happening? She closed her eyes to think about it for a moment.  
  
The closet.  
  
“Cosa?!?!” She sat up with a start, looking around in a panic. “What… happened?”  
  
\---  
  
SNAP SNAP SNAP  
  
Blakki was (literally) snapped out of her thoughts by her maestro. “Eh? C-Cosa?!” The girl looked around quickly. Today had been a blur. She remembered all of it just fine, but she was bothered. The last two nights had patches of just no memory.  
  
She couldn’t remember getting back home or even going to sleep. Yet the next time she became aware of her situation, she was back home safe and sound. She didn’t want to bring it up to Shouri because she didn’t want to worry him. But this was getting troubling.  
  
It had been a normal day. Day passed to night, and they had consumed dinner for the night. Aura had just poked her head into the room and wished the two of them a good night.  
  
“You okay?” Shouri asked suddenly.  
  
“Sono a posto, Sho, davvero.” She replied, getting her bearings straight.  
  
Shouri stared back blankly, trying to analyze the girl’s speech. He spoke when he thought he understood what she had said. “I think you said you’re fine. Anyways, Amika texted me, Pacifica sensed some scherzando, so I think that’s our cue.”  
  
The fox-girl nodded shakily. “Right, let me get my shoes.” She hopped off the bed to get ready to leave.  
  
As was their normal routine at this point, the pair walked down the dark, dimly lit streets, looking for their quarry. Blakki’s mind was on her own memories. Would tonight be a repeat of the previous two nights?  
  
“Passo Silenzioso, Presto Staccato.” Shouri gave their first command as he laid eyes on their target. Today’s scherzando was a black snake with yellow markings. It reared up its head and flicked its tongue, taking inventory of the surroundings.  
  
The scherzando’s head turned towards Blakki and Shouri. As soon as it caught sight of the pair, it turned and slithered away, prompting another chase.  
  
“Every fucking time!” Shouri cursed.  
  
Blakki ran ahead, knowing full well what her job was. As Shouri’s rhythm coursed through her, she forgot her worries just for a fleeting moment. The snake was fast though and rapidly vanished from their view.  
  
The girl came to a stop, to catch her breath but also listen around for the missing scherzando.  
  
Removing her hat, she closed her eyes and allowed her ears to stand up straight. Shouri was running up from behind her, there was a couple nearby talking about their weekend plans, someone with their window open was playing an internet radio station, and then…  
  
“This way!” She opened her eyes and continued her pursuit, just as Shouri had finally caught up. The girl replaced her hat on her head as she ran, lest they attract any more attention than they were already generating by running around town at midnight.  
  
She turned a corner, making sure to keep her hearing on the target. Into an alleyway the two combatants went. The snake turned black and vanished, re-appearing on the other side of the fence.  
  
“Lunar?!” Blakki gasped, surprised at the use of one of her own skills. The fox-girl had faced only a few lunar elemental scherzandos in her time with Shouri, and most of the time it ended quickly since they knew all of the tricks that could be thrown their way.  
  
The momentary surprise faded however, as Blakki employed her own Passo Silenzioso and skipped the chain-link fence that would have barred another resonator’s path. The snake turned and fired an orb of lunar energy at the resonator, who also dodged that.  
  
“Tch… Is this a healer also?” The girl gritted her teeth.  
  
“Sho! Are you listening?” She asked. A couple of seconds later she heard a reply in her head.  
  
“Yeah, what is it?”  
“This thing is like me, a Lunar-Healer”  
“Damn it, we’re going to need to stun it pretty hard.”  
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. It has Passo Silenzioso as well. It may be pretty high level.”  
“Don’t lose sight of it. This thing will be trouble for anyone else.”  
“Ricevuto, Sho!”  
  
The pair of other-worldly creatures reached the forest, and the snake just kept going straight in. Blakki gulped.  
  
“Sho, It’s going into the woods!”  
“God damn it, fucking asshole!”  
“I’m going after it!”  
“Be careful.  
“Certamente!”  
  
Blakki shed her hat at this point, allowing it to fall off behind her like a space shuttle shedding its boosters, uncaring of the fate of the removed equipment. One of the perks of being Lunar was she was able to see better in darkness than other people and resonators.  
  
The constant running was beginning to take its toll however, as the girl began to slow down, her breath becoming more labored as a thick sweat coated her body. She wiped some sweat from her brow, but in this moment, she missed a blob of lunar energy flying in her direction.  
  
Time slowed as the attack hit her head on. She flew backwards, feeling as if gravity was but a tenth of its normal force. This was a mere trick of the mind, gravity worked perfectly fine and reminded the fox girl as she landed on the forest floor.  
  
The girl laid on the forest floor, her head spinning and vision swimming. She panted hard, struggling to keep her consciousness. Why was this happening?  
  
“She’s down, I got it!” A female voice graced Blakki’s fading hearing.  
  
“CMI135 – Infinite Railgun!” Was that...  
  
…Shouri?


	23. Chapter 23

Pacifica jumped out of the way of a rather feisty Nature-element scherzando. They had gotten a few got shots off on the mole-shaped creature, but in turn it got a few good blows of its own in.  
  
“Aw Sweet!”  
  
“Eh?” Pacifica kept her eyes on her opponent, but Amika seemed pleased by something.  
  
“Idrante, Forte!” The maestro called out.  
  
The otter girl’s face lit up as her body began to move to use the attack. Rather than her having to manually throw the attack like previous levels, this one formed several points in front of her and launched of their own accord.  
  
The arrows of water pierced the opposing scherzando, finally felling the beast.  
  
Pacifica turned to her maestro. The pair ran at each other and met in a hug. “We have a Forte spell!” They both celebrated, laughing joyously about their own growth as a pair.  
  
Their celebration would be short-lived however.  
  
BOOM!  
  
“The hell?!” The duo turned in the direction of the noise. It came from the forest near town. Amika hurriedly fished her cellphone out and checked the tracking app she had. “Fuck! Shouri’s that way!” The maestro cursed, using the map to try and locate their friends. Pacifica followed. That was a pretty massive explosion. What’s worse is the rhythm she could feel from it. Whatever used that attack threw out a lot of rhythm.  
  
Just as they reached the edge of the forest, Shouri was walking out; cradling an unconscious Blakki in his arms. The boy was covered in sweat and out of breath, he stumbled a bit as his feet reached the pavement.  
  
“Shouri!” Amika rushed over, Pacifica maintained her combat readiness. She couldn’t feel any scherzando however. If Blakki was knocked out by whatever enemy they were facing, where was their presence?  
  
“What happened?” The other maestro asked, helping Shouri ease Blakki to the ground.  
  
“We were chasing a scherzando and Blakki got hit by one of its attacks and knocked her to the ground.” Shouri explained.  
  
Pacifica eyed the other resonator over. The other girl’s normal hat was missing and she was covered in dirt, sweat, and leaves. However, she was breathing just fine and there didn’t appear to be any immediate injuries.  
  
Amika stood up, relieved the other pair was okay. “What the heck was that explosion?” She asked.  
  
“Dunno. I started trying to get Blakki away and then that explosion happened. The scherzando was gone after that.” He explained, kneeling next to his resonator and picking the leaves out of her hair.  
  
Something didn’t sit right with Pacifica. She felt something was wrong with that explanation, but didn’t want to say anything right now. The otter girl would commit this to memory and ask about it later.  
  
\---  
  
The healthy pair would guide their battered companions back to their home and then head home themselves, Pacifica remaining totally quiet the whole time.  
  
It was days prior after the man in the suit had attacked her. At one point Shouri had a weird expression, as if contemplating a crime. Or at least that’s how Pacifica felt about the situation. She hadn’t shared her thoughts with her maestro, because she didn’t really know Shouri all that well and didn’t want to judge him unfairly.  
  
“Pacifica?”  
“Eh?”  
  
The girl blinked. They were now in Amika’s room. Pacifica hadn’t really noticed they had arrived back home due to her wandering thoughts. The maestro looked to her resonator with concern.  
  
“Ah, can I go to Blakki’s tomorrow?” Pacifica replied suddenly.  
  
“Uh sure, let me text Shouri real quick. Why though?”  
“I just want to make sure Blakki is okay.”  
  
That wasn’t a lie. However, the otter-girl did have an ulterior motive.  
  
“He says sure. So I’ll drop you off before I go to class.”  
“Thanks ‘mika”  
“Of course, but we need to get to sleep now.”  
  
After making use of the bathroom, the pair retired to bed. While the maestro would easily fall asleep, the resonator would stay awake, wrought with worry for what was to come.  
  
Time passed, and due to her racing mind, Pacifica wasn’t sure if she even really slept. It was difficult to differentiate between what was her dreams and what was her conscious mind. Finally, she was actually awoken by Amika shaking her awake. “Come on, it’s time to get going.”  
  
“’kayy…” The other girl yawned groggily.  
  
It was early morning, probably around six or so. Traffic on the streets wasn’t terrible, but it was a precursor of what was to come in the nearing rush hour. Amika herself didn’t possess a car, so she was stuck walking everywhere. It was only a real chore during the height of winter and summer, but right now the temperatures were moderate enough where it was a nice exercise.  
  
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
Pacifica snapped awake when she heard her maestro knocking on Shouri’s door. Instantly the girl’s heart began to race. How would she even confront the other maestro? What would she say?  
  
Shouri opened the door, which only intensified the beating in her chest. “Hey Shouri, sorry about this.”  
  
“No problem.” The boy himself yawned. Pacifica watched as her tuner was handed over to the other maestro, something that was normal between the two but today held a special meaning to the resonator. She felt as if it was herself being handed over in this exchange.  
  
“I’ll be back this afternoon, have fun.” Amika smiled, totally unaware of her resonator’s growing discomfort. She couldn’t blame her maestro however, as Pacifica herself had been the one to suggest this.  
  
As soon as the door was closed, Shouri turned to head back to his room.  
  
“Wait.”  
  
The boy stopped. He didn’t turn to face the girl who was addressing him.  
  
“What really happened last night?” She gulped, biting her bottom lip. Shouri slowly turned. A pair of tired eyes met another pair of equally tired, yet determined eyes.  
  
The maestro sighed, catching the determined expression from the water resonator. This was going to be annoying. “What’s with that accusatory tone of yours?” He asked.  
  
“Don’t answer a question with a question!”  
“It’s like I told you and Amika last night.”  
“Whatever caused that explosion should have made themselves known or attacked you. I don’t buy it.”  
  
Shouri remained unfazed however and continued to stare at the girl with part exhaustion, part apathy. “Pacifica, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”  
  
“You’re acting weird.”  
“You barely know me.”  
“Then let me talk to Blakki.”  
“She’s asleep.”  
“Nngh.”  
  
The girl looked down. This was a stupid idea. She didn’t have nearly enough information to be confronting Shouri like this, and now she was chasing away the truth. “Are you done?”  
  
Pacifica looked up. She gritted her teeth. Something was definitely wrong here, but she just couldn’t articulate her thoughts well enough to call him out on it.  
  
“Y-your rhythm!” She cried out desperately. “I can feel your rhythm. And you’re hiding something.”  
  
Shouri sighed. “God damn it, of course it’s a rhythm thing.” He shook his head. “Tell me. How did you feel around Faith?”  
  
The otter-girl flinched; she averted her gaze, trying to recall the other veteran maestro. “She was strict and crushing. It was suffocating being near her.”  
  
“And me?”  
“Well uh…”  
  
The girl’s eyes darted back and forth, as if searching the ground for an answer. “I dunno, it’s like shady? I can’t describe it.”  
  
“So what do you think I’m doing?”  
“I dunno. I just…”  
  
“It’s not nice to judge your friend’s friend. I got enough of that with my ex.”  
  
There was a sudden change in his rhythm. Pacifica looked up and was met with a very perplexing expression. She had expected a hateful glare, but what she saw was a boy who just looked hurt. Then his emotions washed over her. It was as if his very soul was at the point of tears from just speaking those words.  
  
Specifically “ex”  
  
“I-I’m sorry Shouri… You’re right. I don’t know you.” She hung her head in shame.  
  
“Anyways, you look tired.” He walked over to the couch and removed a few of the cushions. Then with one tug, a bed was pulled out. It wasn’t the most comfortable looking thing in the world, but it had a sheet, and a few minutes later a thin blanket and pillows joined it.  
  
Pacifica walked over to the pull-out bed and sat on it.  
  
“Sleep well.” Shouri set Pacifica’s blue tuner down on the dining room table, where she could see it. The otter girl stared at the bed underneath her. He was being so nice to her despite what she had done only moments earlier. It made her feel like slime.  
  
“I’m sorry Shouri.”  
“Don’t apologize.”  
  
“Eh?” When she looked back up, he was already gone. What did he mean by that?  
  
\---  
  
 _“She’s down, I got it!”  
“CMI135 – Infinite Railgun!”  
  
_Blakki sat up with a start. Her heart raced as she observed her surroundings. Shouri’s room. Specifically the bed. As she calmed her heart, once more dread hit her. She didn’t know how she ended up back home.  
  
Though there was a more pressing matter.  
  
A second female voice. Then Shouri’s voice calling out some kind of attack? It wasn’t Italian like she was used to hearing from him though. It was a loud, English command. But after that bit of speech, everything had faded to black. She couldn’t recall anything else.  
  
And yet, she somehow ended up back home with Shouri, safe and sound. Looking over, she saw his head resting on his arms, which were folded on his desk. That position didn’t look too terribly comfortable.  
  
“Sho.” She called out somewhat quietly.  
  
The boy stirred and sat up. He moved his head back and forth in an effort to loosen his stiff neck. As Blakki had suspected, that positioning was not very comfortable to sleep in.  
  
“How are you feeling?” He asked with a yawn.  
  
She smiled warmly. If something strange was happening to her, she at least took some solace in knowing her dear maestro still cared about her.  
  
“I’m fine, though I don’t really remember what happened last night.” The lunar resonator replied uneasily.  
  
Shouri nodded. “I figured. You took a blow to the head and hit the ground pretty hard. Are you sure you’re not sore anywhere?”  
  
A small bit of blush crept onto Blakki’s face. “N-no, sto bene.” She replied.  
  
The boy smiled. “I’m glad you’re fine.” He repeated, partly to confirm he understood her.  
  
Blakki smiled back, though it faded quickly. “Have you slept at all?” She asked, turning her maestro’s concern back on him.  
  
He replied with a yawn. “Not really. Pacifica seemed to be just as worried too.” The boy threw in the second part as a deflection of his own condition. Blakki took the bait and shifted the focus of their conversation.  
  
“Eh? Pacifica?”  
“Yeah, she came over this morning but was dead exhausted. I pulled out the couch bed for her.”  
“Did they stop the scherzando?”  
  
Shouri hesitated for a moment, deciding how to answer. The resonator failed to notice this momentary pause.  
  
“Something out in the woods got it. Made a fucking big explosion.”  
“Oh merda… Who was it?”  
“Dunno. Maybe the man in the suit. Either way, I scooped you up and got the hell out of there.”  
“Scusa Sho…”  
  
The boy sighed once more. “You literally got blasted in the head. Don’t apologize for being mortal.” He shot an annoyed glance at his resonator.  
  
“But I-”  
“We’re both fine right?”  
“Yeah but-!”  
“Then drop it, I’m not going to be mad at you for something you literally couldn’t control.”  
  
Blakki looked down, flattening her ears. She really didn’t deserve her maestro. He was always so worried about her. That’s why she couldn’t bring herself to mention anything about her memories. She just didn’t have the heart to make him fret over her any more than he already did.  
  
“You carried me out of the forest though?”  
“I’m not the strongest guy out there, but I managed somehow.”  
  
The girl smiled. That’s all that really mattered to her. “Come here.” She demanded.  
  
The unsuspecting boy stood up and walked over to the bed. Blakki wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into bed with her.  
  
“Eh?! What are you doing?”  
“Thanking you for protecting me.”  
“I’m your maestro, isn’t that my job?”  
  
Blakki pouted at her maestro. “Just go to sleep.” She managed to say without stumbling over her words. Despite this however, her face was totally red from the thought of him sleeping in her arms.  
  
Seeing how he wasn’t winning this one, the boy sighed and resigned to his fate. “Fine, fine. You win. Good night Blakki.”  
  
“Buona notte, Sho.”  
  
\-----  
  
Pacifica awoke some hours later. She really needed that rest. Just as she woke up, she caught eyes with Blakki who was exiting the bathroom. “Ah, did I wake you?” The lunar resonator asked.  
  
“No, you’re fine.” The water resonator laughed. “How are you feeling?”  
  
“Bene! Bene! Actually, Sho and I were going to go to Sonia’s, wanna come with?” She asked the other resonator.  
  
The guest blinked. She hadn’t met Sonia. Amika had explained that Sonia was another maestro that ran some kind of clothing store and kind of threatened her and Leo when they were initially investigating their tuners.  
  
Needless to say, the otter-girl’s interest had been piqued. “Sure.” She replied.  
  
Blakki smiled, happy that she agreed easily. “Molto bene! Let me get Sho and we can get going!” She exclaimed joyously before rushing out of the room to fetch her maestro.  
  
Pacifica couldn’t help but smile. The little lunar resonator was a ball of sunshine today it seemed. Shouri exited the room moments later. He looked exhausted still, however, his own personal daystar chided him on. The otter-girl’s smile slowly faded from her lips. How could she think anything ill of them? They were so close.  
  
“Pacifica?”  
“Eh, sorry Blakki.”  
  
The water resonator got off the bed-couch and went to try to fold it back up, when Shouri stepped in. “I got it.” He muttered, knocking the blanket and pillow off of the bed before folding it back into the couch from whence it came.  
  
This would earn Pacifica’s smile back. Shouri was really nice. She’d have more faith in him, and get to know him better. He was Amika’s friend too, so she should actually learn a bit more about him.  
  
With the furniture put away, the trio set off for Renoir’s apparel.  
  
The store in question was probably a twenty-minute walk from Shouri and Blakki’s apartment complex. It'd be probably a bit longer to Amika’s, but that was in a slightly different direction. Thinking about it, the three locations formed an even triangle of their own. It was an interesting thought.  
  
“Welcome to Renoir’s!” A male voice greeted the trio.  
  
Pacifica observed the shopkeeper. A slightly younger male, maybe fifteen or sixteen? He had a brown beret over tri-colored hair. His resonator features were on full display: floppy canine ears like a beagle and a long, thin tail that poked out from behind him, it had a mixture of black and brown with a white tip. His choice of attire consisted of a dark brown sleeveless vest over a white long-sleeved shirt and white pants with brown shoes.  
  
Walking to the front of the store, to take inventory of the newcomers, the hazel-eyed resonator looked Pacifica up and down. “We haven’t met, who are you?” He asked.  
  
“I’m Pacifica. You may have met my maestro Amika.” She replied.  
  
The male resonator mulled that over. “Brown haired girl, feisty?” He asked.  
  
The water-resonator rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that sounds like her.”  
  
“Ah okay. Glad to see she took our advice to heart and instead got a resonator.” The boy spoke with an aura of superiority, chuckling to himself.  
  
Pacifica frowned, folding her arms across her chest and looking down on the smaller boy. “What’s that supposed to mean?”  
  
“Nothing, nothing.” The resonator waved off Pacifica’s annoyance.  
  
At this point, the store owner walked into the room. “Oh, Shouri you’re here!” Sonia smiled. Her eyes then met with the water resonator. “Who are you?”  
  
“Pacifica, you and dog boy threatened my maestro, apparently.” Pacifica narrowed her eyes, just getting that bit of introduction out of the way.  
  
This was met by a sigh from Sonia. “What a hard-headed girl.” This earned a sharpened frown from the otter-girl. However, the red-haired maestro smiled a moment later. “It’s good to have you both in our group. Let us know if you need anything.” The water resonator was taken aback by the sudden kindness.  
  
“God knows Shouri never calls for help” Sonia snickered, diverting her attention to the other maestro.  
  
Naturally, he took exception to that and immediately shot back. “Hey! I rescued YOU the first time we met!”  
  
“And WHO came limping into my home at 3AM the following night?!”  
“That was one time!”  
“And WHO had to save you when you got yourself kidnapped?!”  
“You fucking burned down the building while I was in it!”  
“It was an ACCIDENT and I apologized!”  
  
The three resonators watched the two maestros argue in amusement. At least things seemed to be peaceful for the moment.  
  
\-----  
  
Another night, another scherzando to deal with.  
  
“What?! They can run?!”  
“I’m on it!”  
  
Pacifica ran ahead, chasing after the fleeing dog-shaped earth scherzando. She kept her focus entirely on the enemy. It was pretty late for a scherzando, being around three in the morning at this point.  
  
She turned a corner and saw the creature easily clear the fence.  
  
“Damn damn damn!” Pacifica cursed running at the chain-link fence. She jumped on it and rapidly ascended it. She jumped over and landed on her feet. The girl gritted her teeth, she’d feel that tomorrow.  
  
Continuing the chase, she ended up catching the creature turning down a different alleyway.  
  
“Come on..!” She shouted in protest.  
  
Just when she was in ear-shot a familiar voice reached her hearing.  
  
“GST023 – Air Rake!”  
  
Blades of wind exited the alleyway, throwing a fading scherzando out of it. Pacifica kept running towards it. She recognized that voice, she needed to know who it was.  
  
Turning the corner, she locked eyes with a resonator and a maestro. A pair of glowing yellow eyes glared at the newcomer to the alleyway.  
  
“Tch…” The magenta haired girl gritted her teeth, sharpening her glare.  
  
The second set of eyes met with Pacifica’s, causing the water-resonator’s eyes to go wide. She stepped back, her heart and mind racing. What she was seeing was incomprehensible. With a sigh, the second figure spoke.  
  
“…I told you not to apologize, Pacifica.”


	24. Chapter 24

Pacifica stared blankly at the ceiling in the dark bedroom that was her home. The ceiling fan squeaking in protest each rotation it made around its motor. The events of the hour prior playing vividly in her head. That was definitely Shouri that she had run in to. But the resonator with him looked… human. She had no tail, no animal ears. The only thing that stood out were her yellow eyes and magenta hair.  
  
But the otter-girl definitely sensed the other girl as a resonator. And just as quickly as she had run into the strange pair, they were gone. Not that they ran away, but they quite literally just vanished.  
  
Amika found the quiet, shocked Pacifica and guided her home. The water-resonator was beyond confused, her mind basically collapsing from the whiplash of accepting Shouri for who he was and then this sudden betrayal. The last twenty-four hours had been a rollercoaster of emotions for the poor girl. She couldn’t calm the storm of her mind, but she so desperately wanted to sleep. To end this nightmare she was living.  
  
Why?  
  
Why?  
  
He had to have a reason. Something to justify what he was doing.  
  
But she didn’t want to hear it. She had to process her own feelings first. She couldn’t bear to think what Blakki would think. Her only resonator friend. Pacifica didn’t want to think about what it would do to her if she found out.  
  
Hours passed. At some point Amika had left. She hadn’t spoken a word to her maestro. She couldn’t just put Shouri’s business out there. She didn’t feel it was right, despite the situation.  
  
“I’m surprised.”  
  
Pacifica sat up in bed. Was she hearing things now? A female voice out of nowhere?!  
  
“Strong emotion, weak knowledge. So you can’t understand what’s going on, but you’re able to keep your emotions in check and feel out the situation.  
  
The girl from last night was suddenly sitting on Amika’s desk, kicking her feet back and forth, looking at her nails as she spoke.  
  
“Right? Pa-ci-fi-ca?” A toothy, almost Cheshire cat like grin.  
  
“Wh-who are you?!” The startled otter-girl demanded.  
  
“Test Subject Seven of Project Whistler. But that’s too lengthy, just call me Seven.” The girl hopped off the desk. She began to look around the room, trying to find anything of interest. Amika Castillo seemed to live rather frugally however, so there wasn’t much to the small bedroom.  
  
Meanwhile, poor, frightened Pacifica had no idea what was going on. This Seven person just introduced themselves, but the words were lost on the panicking resonator.  
  
Seven didn’t seem to care about Pacifica’s rising panic, and just kept talking. “Project Whistler was a project in the early 2000’s to alter the human genome. Officially it was to be canned after the first failed experiment, but it was continued in secret.”  
  
The magenta haired girl turned to her blonde counterpart and smiled. “If we want to get technical, this body was born February 5th, 1999. I originally died sometime around August of 2003. Apparently, my father refused to accept this and put my body into cryogenic preservation until a way to revive me could be found.”  
  
Pacifica was following along at this point, but it was so wild to her. Even her amnesiac brain had a difficult time processing that the girl before her had died and was speaking so casually about it as if it was a non-issue.  
  
“In 2006 my body was offered up for Project Whistler. While the previous attempts had failed, I was successful, and was reborn in this body. My mental capacities picked right back up where they left off. I was mentally four years old, despite my body existing on this planet for seven years. However, like you resonators, I awoke with zero memories of my life previously. I don’t even remember how I died. And as a bonus side-effect, I also became sensitive to rhythm and gained resonator-like abilities.”  
  
The water-resonator spoke up. “So what element are you?”  
  
“Artificial. I have my own unique commands I follow. Despite the commands being elemental in appearance and name, they lack any real elemental affinity like your water spells.” Seven leaned back on the desk, still taking in the ambient noise in the room.  
  
The artificial resonator turned her gaze back on Pacifica. “I consider myself seventeen years old as of this year. I’m still a growing girl. But I’ve lost my biological senses.”  
  
Pacifica raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”  
  
“Do you ever get horny?” The resonator spoke, without any regard for decency.  
  
The poor otter girl’s face went totally red in an instant. “Wh-wh-what!?!” She shrieked.  
  
“Answer the question. Do you get horny?”  
  
“W-well… yeah I guess…?” Pacifica spoke quietly.  
  
Seven nodded. “Right. I don’t.” She paused. “Well, actually, that’s not right. I can’t. When my biological processes stopped previously, so did any of those desires I guess.” The magenta-haired girl shrugged. “My desires are rhythm. I only feel alive when I feel a maestro’s rhythm go through me.”  
  
There was something odd about that. Where was Seven going with this?  
  
“This is why I was with Shouri. His rhythm is different. I wouldn’t say it’s the strongest, but maybe his technique? Anyways, it’s addicting.” Seven smiled warmly, thinking about being commanded by Shouri in battle. It was her own high. Even his tactics were good to her. She certainly was an odd creature, and Pacifica was very rapidly learning this.  
  
“B-but why is he doing this?! I know Shouri wouldn’t just agree to this!” Pacifica shouted.  
  
Seven smirked smugly. “Oh? Do you? Do you really?” She vanished and appeared on top of Pacifica, pinning her to the bed. She lowered her head down, her mouth near the otter-girl’s ear. “Why don’t you ask him?”  
  
And then just as rapidly as she had appeared, Seven was totally gone, leaving Pacifica alone with her thoughts once more.  
  
She just resumed staring at the ceiling as she had been last night, left with more questions than answers; but at least now she had a concrete path to follow.  
  
After moping around for another hour or two, Pacifica got determined. She had to figure this out. It would keep her awake at night if she didn’t.  
  
Seven, the girl that died. The girl who lost the biological meaning of life. The artificial resonator who operated on her own rules.  
  
She was currently partnered with Shouri as his resonator. That much was clear from what Pacifica saw the night before. But that same maestro already had a partner: Blakki.  
  
Why was Shouri doing this? It was obvious based on the way both maestro and resonator acted last night that poor Blakki was totally oblivious to the situation.  
  
Pacifica slipped on her sandals and her vest. She’d follow Seven’s suggestion and go right to the source: Shouri. She had to. For her own sanity. Maybe she couldn’t follow the logic, but maybe the feelings would make sense. That’s why she needed to go to him in person.  
  
Despite promising Amika she wouldn’t go out alone, Pacifica left the apartment anyways. The otter-girl remained iron focused on her objective. She wouldn’t be deterred. Even the threat of the man in the suit didn’t put any kind of waver in her step. Each motion was solid and determined.  
  
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
Pacifica glared at the door to apartment #471  
  
Blakki answered the door, immediately disarming the otter-girl. She didn’t really want to see her resonator friend. Not until she spoke to Shouri and cleared this up. Yet here she was.  
  
“Hey Paci-”  
  
“Can you get Shouri?”  
  
The two girls stared at each other for a moment. “What’s going on?” Blakki finally asked after a moment of silence.  
  
“I have to talk to him, alone.”  
  
The fox girl hesitated. Something was different about the water resonator’s demeanor, that much was clear. But demanding Shouri immediately, and her adamant expression. She wouldn’t budge on this.  
  
“C-capisco… I’ll get him.” The lunar resonator caved to the pressure and returned to the interior of the apartment Pacifica refused to enter. In her current state she felt like a stranger. She had to. At least until she came to the truth.  
  
A moment later Shouri and Blakki returned to the door. “Pacifica.” He said simply  
  
“Can we go somewhere to speak?” Her eyes drifted to Blakki who wore an expression of concern mixed with confusion. “Alone.” Pacifica added, turning her gaze back to Shouri.  
  
The trio remained quiet for a moment. Pacifica reached to her side and pulled her own tuner from her shorts and held it out for the maestro. “If it makes you feel safer.” She spoke quietly. This wasn’t something she wanted to do, but Blakki could not come with, and they had enemies.  
  
“Sho, what’s going on?” Blakki asked her maestro as she watched him place his hand on the other girl’s hand and taking grasp of the other tuner.  
  
With no pause, he spoke: “Something personal. If it was something Pacifica felt comfortable sharing, she would.” Now he paused, looking over the water resonator, who nodded slowly at the explanation.  
  
Conflicted, Blakki looked between her friend and her maestro. Though they were both her allies, she couldn’t help but feel something was wrong with this request. She closed her eyes tightly, wracking her brain for anything she could say to interject in this not-so-secret meeting. Coming up with nothing, she slowly opened her eyes.  
  
“B…bene… tornare presto…” She hung her head, unable to watch as Shouri stepped out of the house. She remained this way as the door closed in front of her.  
  
\---  
  
The pair walked through the streets of their town. Pacifica led the way, Shouri merely followed with his hands in his pockets, running his fingers over the resonator’s tuner he currently had possession. There was one particular button he kept finding himself going back to.  
  
How easy it would be…  
  
“I don’t know what’s going on. You better tell me or I’ll march right back to Blakki and tell her what I think is going on.”  
“That’s going to be harder than you think.”  
  
Pacifica stopped and turned to the boy. “She trusts you. We all trust you! Resonators put their absolute faith in their maestros! Why?!” She barked.  
  
Shouri took in a deep breath, closing his eyes before exhaling. “I wished it was as romantic as you think it was.” He pulled out the tuner that Pacifica had handed over. He flashed it to the otter-girl, his thumb rested on the fourth button.  
  
“Do you know what this button does?”  
  
The resonator faltered slightly. “N-not really, I let Amika handle that.”  
  
He pressed down the button. “Pacifica, sit down.”  
  
The girl’s eyes went wide as completely out of her will or even her conscious thought, she found her body moving to sit down on the ground. Just right there on the middle of the sidewalk.  
  
“I hate this thing. It’s not a symbol of a bond or anything poetic like that. It’s literally a way to make resonators slaves to maestros.” He dropped the device in front of Pacifica allowing it to clatter on the ground in front of her. Freed from the control of the device, she snatched it up and hopped to her feet.  
  
She shook like a leaf, her eyes moving rapidly as she tried to figure out what to say. This was not how she expected the conversation to begin. “Seven visited me… she told me what she is. Why are you doing this? Why did you tell me about the tuner?” Her voice was a few octaves higher as she struggled to keep her rushing emotions in check.  
  
“Seven offered me a deal. If I became her maestro, she’d tell me about the man in the suit.”  
“But how?”  
“Amika made it very easy. She handed me an un-activated tuner after all.  
“Why would you agree to that? Why didn’t you tell Blakki?”  
  
Shouri sighed. Upon closer inspection Pacifica noticed his gaze wavered, he looked simply tired. Like a worker just at their breaking point. Physically and mentally….  
  
This was destroying him…  
  
What’s more, his emotions radiated freely off his body, that much Pacifica could feel. It was eating him up inside.  
  
“Well, you see-”  
  
\---  
  
 _It started the day after the aquarium incident._  
  
“I've got it Sho!” Blakki shouted, chasing another scherzando.  
  
Shouri came to a stop, allowing his resonator to chase their quarry. He flipped the tuner's listen function on and monitored the situation from his stationary position. Before he could put his full focus on Blakki however, a figure appeared before him. “Good evening Shouri, having fun tonight?”  
  
The boy gritted his teeth edging back slightly. “Seven. What are you doing now?” He questioned.  
  
Seven vanished and appeared behind the maestro, moving his hand away from the speak button. “Shh shh, don't ruin a good thing. I have a new proposition for you.”  
  
“New proposition?”  
“See, you're strong knowledge like me.”  
“What?”  
“Your rhythm - you're curious. And what gets on your nerves more is simply not knowing.”  
  
Her embrace grew tighter as she spoke, making him more and more uncomfortable with the situation.  
  
“Sho! I found it! I need a spell!” Blakki's voice rang from the tuner. Seven glared at the backlit screen of the device. “Go on. Give her a spell.” Seven whispered to the maestro. “L-luce Lunare, Piano Staccato.” He spoke.  
  
“Good boy. Now back to what I was saying.” Seven whispered. The maestro batted the artificial resonator off of him and spun on his heel to face her. He had re-gained his composure and glared at the younger girl. “I told you already - I have Blakki, and I'm not abandoning her.” Shouri stated adamantly.  
  
Seven maintained her smug smirk, folding her arms across her chest. “There's no rule that says you can't have more than one resonator.” She countered.  
  
The boy furrowed his brow, trying to recall Sahji mentioning such a rule, but he couldn't think of any. Perhaps Seven was right? He shook his head. “No. Besides, I doubt Blakki would even accept-”  
  
“There's always that.” Seven pointed at the tuner in Shouri's hand. “There's a way on that device to make her obedient. She'd never even know the difference.”  
  
Shouri wasn't an idiot. He knew full well what Seven was implying. The boy stared at the red control button, mortified by the suggestion. “You're sick.” He snarled at her. “You'll come around-” The girl vanished suddenly. “-Shou-riiii~” Her sing song voice echoed into the night, leaving Shouri alone on that cold, empty street.  
  
\---  
  
He would have never considered it. Robbing Blakki of her free will. Blakki, the ray of sunshine that trusted him with every fiber of her being. He absolutely could not do that to her.  
  
Until-  
  
-the day Pacifica appeared on their doorstep, afraid for her life.  
  
That man in the suit. He could do whatever he wanted and they had to hide and scuttle around like roaches scattering from the light. There had to be a way to level the playing field there had to-  
  
“Shouri~”  
  
Once again, Shouri found himself alone. And since he was alone, Seven made her appearance.  
  
“Have you considered our partnership any further?” Seven inquired. Tonight however, would be a pleasant surprise for her. “What are your terms?” He spoke quietly.  
  
Seven was actually caught off guard for once. She quickly regained her composure, snapping up this opportunity like a hungry trout. “It's simple really.” She chuckled. “Since you won't get rid of that peasant girl, use that fancy tuner to force her to accept me.” The artificial resonator stated.  
  
“Absolutely not. I'm not doing that.” He retorted quickly.  
  
The girl frowned hard. “What's your game? What do you want?” He asked. “I should be asking you that question, Shou-ri~” She smirked before continuing. “I suppose I'll play my hand first, but you have to promise to play yours right after.” Shouri remained silent, glaring the girl down, grip tight around his black tuner.  
  
“I want your rhythm, I want to fight with you. Just give me that, and I'll give you whatever information you want. I'm very good at intelligence work. Gathering information or making it vanish; whatever you want done it's yours.” Seven explained.  
  
“That man. The one in the suit. Tell me everything you know about him. That's what I want.” Shouri laid out his stake in this deal.  
  
“Oh? Oh?!” Her yellow eyes widened as her lips rose to a wicked smirk. “Shouri dear, you're making this FAR too easy for me!” She laughed loudly. “Of course, you already know I can tell you everything about him. That's the only reason we're having this discussion, right?” Seven asked.  
  
Shouri's head was lowered, his eyes transfixed on his own tuner. What was he even doing?  
  
“I might even be able to convince him to leave you alone. But no promises on that.” Seven added offhandedly.  
  
“All you want is rhythm right?” Shouri asked.  
“Of course~”  
“How about this? I'll send Blakki home each night and during that time you and I can go fight some scherzando.”  
  
Seven mulled that offer over. “Hmm…” She stroked her chin in thought. She had her prize right in her grasp. Did she dare push her luck and ask for more? “I suppose. But to make sure you don’t double cross me immediately after getting what you want - I'll only give you information when I'm satisfied with our dealings every night. Is that fair?” She countered.  
  
The two glared at each other. “Hrmph. Forget it I-”  
  
“As a show of good faith, I'll even give you some information up front!” Seven shouted. Shouri remained quiet allowing her to put her metaphorical chips on the table as it were.  
  
“His name is-”  
  
\---  
  
Shouri looked back up. He already looked defeated, despite only having revealed a small piece of the puzzle. Pacifica hoped in her heart that this was it, but alas, the maestro would continue speaking.  
  
“Ryo Saitou, and he wants to rid this world of rhythm, by any means necessary.”  
  
\---  
  
click click click  
  
Ryo Saitou stared out at the town that he was currently residing in. He stood at the top floor of the tallest building in town, observing the small urban area as the sun began to set. His darkened perception of the world due in part to his sunglasses which were omnipresent on his face.  
  
“Father.” A voice spoke behind him.  
  
He turned to the owner of the voice. The artificial resonator, Seven.  
  
“Do you still want to go through with this?” She asked. There was a small bit of concern in her voice. Odd.  
  
Mulling over his thoughts for a moment, he spoke up. “Rhythm is the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden. I’m going to undo the bite of that knowledge.”  
  
Seven gritted her teeth. “That means me too. They’re not bad.” She would argue time and time again. But every time, her concern was met with:  
  
“Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.” He spoke with such cold indifference; it would always remind Seven of her role: a tool. At this point, she would wilt and fade into the darkness.  
  
Ryo turned back to the town, slowly uncapping and recapping the thumb-drive he held onto.  
  
It would all be over soon. The nightmare would end. He would see to it.


	25. Chapter 25

Pacifica laid in bed, curled up around a pillow. Several days had passed since Shouri spilled the beans on just what he was doing. She was conflicted. Originally, she had gone into that conversation with conviction; being sure that no matter what Shouri said to her, she wouldn’t take his side.  
  
But…  
  
The entire story he told her, and even the name of their enemy _-_ He wasn’t lying; at least that's how he felt. His emotions, his thoughts, his words about the situation. They were genuine. Even if he had been given false information, he believed this intel he had forsaken his moral compass for. Using that control button was eating him up inside. She could feel that from him.  
  
Even using it on her to demonstrate a point caused turmoil in his rhythm. Every day he continued on this path was destroying him. But, he was committed to protecting Blakki, and all the other maestros and resonators, even if it meant he’d have to die in the end.  
  
Or at least that’s what Pacifica gathered from their conversation.  
  
She couldn’t do it though. She couldn’t face him again after that conversation. It was too painful.  
  
And then there was Amika.  
  
Putting up a false front in front of her was easy. The water resonator had total control of her emotions, so feigning a worry-free smile was easy. No matter how soul-crushing it felt on the inside.  
  
“Pacifica?”  
  
The girl sat up with a start. Amika stood at the doorframe, her brows turned up in worry. “Are you okay?”  
  
“Yeah, just a bit tired.” She smiled. It came across as genuine despite her inner conflict. Amika was no idiot though. She was starting to piece together that there was something wrong with her partner. Something she was trying to cover-up.  
  
The brown-haired maestro walked over to her bed and sat down next to her resonator. She smiled warmly at the otter-girl before speaking. “You can tell me what’s wrong.”  
  
There was a critical moment of hesitation from Pacifica before she replied. “I’m fine.” Another fake smile. “Maybe I’m hungry. Haven’t eaten much today.” She attempted to change the subject.  
  
“Oh, that works out. Shouri and Blakki invited us over for dinner.” Amika leaned back, kicking her legs back and forth as she looked up at her ceiling fan.  
  
The other girl paled slightly. “D-did they now? You could have told me sooner so I could have taken a bath.” She managed to get out, attempting to avoid hesitating.  
  
However, in doing so, she revealed a piece of information to Amika. “Yeah, Shouri was really excited to have us over.”  
  
This earned a raised eyebrow from the resonator, though that didn’t change her thoughts on the situation. She didn’t want to see him right now. “I’m super tired. I think I’ll pass.”  
  
“Pacifica, why are you avoiding Shouri?”  
  
The girl gulped, she stared at her maestro, eyes wide. “Wh-what are you talking about ‘mika?”  
  
“For the past few days you’ve been very careful when we go out at night to avoid the areas Shouri’s at. And whenever I bring up his name, something feels… off about you.”  
  
“You’re not supposed to be that perceptive…” The otter girl muttered.  
  
“Hm?”  
“Nothing!”  
  
She looked down. The poor thing was still conflicted about the situation. She wanted to tell Amika what was going on, but she knew very well how straight forward and rash her own maestro was. But she could see it in Blakki’s eyes how fragile she was. She wouldn’t be able to handle this kind of betrayal. It would have been easier if she had a different partner. Even if they were swapped.  
  
\---  
  
It was another dreary night. The main difference was it was darker out tonight than previous nights. Dark clouds threatened rain at any minute.  
  
Not that the scherzando cared mind you. They seemed to lack any real biological functions outside of: find rhythm, eat rhythm.  
  
And so for this, Blakki and Shouri ventured out into the night.  
  
The rain wasn’t anything that bothered Blakki. At least not right now. She was bothered by her head. Something was definitely wrong. She couldn’t place the exact feeling, but it was in her head whatever it was. Not quite a headache, not quite dizziness. It was difficult to describe. As usual, she didn’t want to be a trouble to Shouri, so she ignored it.  
  
“It’ll be annoying if it rained on us.” Shouri commented as they walked along towards their destination.  
  
Blakki nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I wish I could do something about it.” She laughed. Truth be told, she didn’t want to get rained on either. Drying her tail was a pain. At that precise moment, Shouri’s tuner began beeping.  
  
“Eh?” Shouri blinked, unclipping the device from his side and looking it over.  
  
“What is it Sho?”  
“It’s a new spell.”  
“What? Now?”  
  
The boy frowned. Each time they got a new spell it seemed to fit the situation they were in. Right now they were just walking and…  
  
“The clouds…” He looked up at the sky. “Chiaro cielo di mezzanotte!” He called out suddenly.  
  
“Ehhh?” The girl blinked. Her body began to move as she folded her hands over each other. She closed her eyes, feeling the rhythm gathering between her clasped hands as lunar energy. Slowly her eyes were allowed to open as she raised her hands, throwing a small ball of lunar energy, which flew up into the sky. She stood there for a moment, her arms raised before the effects of the spell wore off and she regained control of her body.  
  
The pair just stared up at the sky where the orb of lunar energy vanished into. Slowly the clouds began to part and vanish as bright moonlight shone down on the pair.  
  
“È strano…” Blakki looked at her hands, opening and closing them as she looked between them.  
  
“What’s weird?” Shouri asked, looking over his resonator before looking back up at the hole in the clouds.  
  
“I feel… like energized I guess? Maybe we should cast this before we fight the scherzando tonight?” She frowned, trying to figure out what this spell was doing besides opening up holes in the clouds.  
  
The boy nodded. He would complain to Sahji later about the tuner not coming with descriptions of what the spells did. If they were going to act like this was an RPG with the interface of the tuner, the least they could do is use all the tropes and include helpful descriptions of what their death spells did.  
  
The pair continued their walk, taking inventory of how long their new spell lasted before it dissipated and allowed the weather to continue as normal.  
  
Tonight’s scherzando was a medium sized antelope known as a springbok. This scherzando was water attribute, from its blue coloration and antlers made of ice.  
  
“Passo Silenzioso, Presto Staccato.” Shouri began their usual strategy of giving Blakki free reign to dodge at will. The water scherzando rather than running turned its mouth towards the sky, an orb of blue energy was fired into the clouds.  
  
The scherzando then fired a blast of water at the pair, who dodged it easily. “What did it do? Was it like our new spell?” Shouri muttered to himself. It didn’t seem to do anything. That’s when he noticed something odd. He thought he saw his breath. Breathing out confirmed that suspicion. A wind began to kick up.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!” He commanded.  
  
Blakki hurled a ball of lunar energy at the opposing scherzando, just as a flurry of snow began to descend on the pair.  
  
“Che diavolo?!” Blakki exclaimed, being swallowed up by the sudden snowstorm. It was weird though. Despite being in a harsh blizzard the girl felt… at home. She dropped her combative stance for a moment, taking in the snowy environment. Why did it make her feel like this?  
  
“Chiaro cielo di mezzanotte!” Cut through the wind and snow, forcing Blakki into action.  
  
As soon as the ball of lunar energy left her sight, the snow immediately came to a stop. The clouds parted, shining down moonlight on the combatants.  
  
The scherzando looked around, realizing it’s cover was blown. It began to gather energy to create that snowstorm again, but Shouri was faster on the draw.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
As usual Blakki threw a ball of lunar energy at the opposing water-elemental. However, as it flew through the air, the pair noticed that it began to grow larger until it reached its target, tearing the creature apart and causing it to disappear like their previous opponents.  
  
“Hmm…” Shouri frowned. “So it can change the weather to be clear and gives a boost to Lunar spells I guess? I wonder if it works on support spells.” He pondered aloud.  
  
“Whatever works…” Blakki muttered.  
  
Shouri noticed his partner seemed lost in thought. “What’s up?”  
  
The girl frowned, tilting her head back and forth for a moment as she stared blankly into space. “I felt nostalgic? Is that the right word?”  
  
“About what?”  
“The snow. It’s weird, I’ve never felt like that before.”  
  
The boy frowned. According to Sahji she wouldn’t ever remember anything from the other world. As far as he was aware nostalgia came from fond memories. If she really didn’t have any memories at all and was a blank slate like the sage had suggested, then how could she feel nostalgic? At that moment he was reminded of something she had said a little bit back:  
  
 _“I mean, whenever I see something, I get a feeling of whether it is new to me or not. Like trees and stuff, I've seen before I woke up here. But this, I get a feeling of newness.”  
  
_ He wasn’t an expert in memories and how the human brain worked in any sense, but wouldn’t feelings like that be linked to memories?  
  
Either way, that’d be another thing he’d have to try and get out of Sahji. For now, he needed to get home and get Blakki to bed so he could switch resonators.  
  
The pair began their trek home, however, Shouri noticed it was getting around the time he had agreed to meet with Seven. This had happened plenty of times before, so he had a contingency.  
  
He slowed his pace, allowing Blakki to walk slightly ahead of him. Pulling the tuner from his waistband, he looked down at the device in his hand. With a sigh, he pressed down the control button. Every night he did this he did so with hesitation, tonight would be no exception. Pressing the button, he spoke into the device.  
  
“Go home and go to sleep for eight hours.”  
  
Blakki stopped as he spoke; he himself coming to a stop as well. Releasing the button, he noticed her tremble. That was weird. She hadn’t done that before.  
  
“My head…” She muttered. His eyes went wide. She had never spoken after he pressed down the button either.  
  
“Why..?” She raised her hands to her face. She slowly turned around to Shouri.  
  
Blood. There was a large amount of blood covering the girl’s lips, dripping down from her nose, her clean white shirt slowly beginning to stain as the thick liquid travelled down her neck and chest. The fox-girl wore a look of confused horror as she failed to process what was going on with her body.  
  
“Whats… happening?” She began to lose her balance, then she fell forward.  
  
“BLAKKI!”  
  
He caught her, saving her from smashing her already bleeding face into the ground. He slowly eased both of them to the ground. The girl laid in his arms totally unmoving. What happened? This never happened before. She didn’t get hit in the battle; it couldn’t have been that. The snow? Maybe the snow had an extra effect?  
  
What did he do now? He couldn’t take her to the hospital. That was suicide.  
  
Then an idea hit him. Actually, two ideas.  
  
“SEVEN!”  
  
The artificial resonator appeared next to her maestro at his call. Before she could make a snide remark about him calling for her, she noticed the situation.  
  
“What the hell happened?” She asked, kneeling down next to the boy.  
  
“I don’t know! I was sending her home like usual and then she just started bleeding!” He cried out hysterically.  
  
“Okay calm down, let me see.” Seven gulped. She placed a hand on the other resonator’s head. “You’re lucky you have me.” She muttered, as data began to scan through her eyes. “Okay okay… she’s got brain activity, but it’s kind of a mess. Her pulse is fine… but it’s around the levels of someone in deep sleep.” The magenta haired girl shook her head. “It’s like a coma almost.” She gulped once again.  
  
“Come on, help me get her up. I know where we can go.” Shouri said.  
  
“R-right.” She nodded.  
  
The two supported Blakki from either side, carrying her down the street. “It’s lucky we do this shit at like 3AM.” Seven noted as they trudged along.  
  
Shouri was not in any fit state for a conversation. Seven placed her hand over the panicking maestro’s hand as they walked along. She now performed the same scan as she had on Blakki.  
  
Immediately she noted his heartrate was in the upper 230’s. Plus his own brain activity was a mess, just like Blakki’s, but in a different way. “You’re having a panic attack.” She gritted her teeth. The girl genuinely liked Shouri. Despite the nature of their arrangement, he had been nice to her the whole time. Dare say it, she was even thinking of calling him a friend.  
  
Seeing him in this state was horrible. She hoped that where ever they were going would be able to fix this, for his sake.  
  
About ten minutes of trudging along later, the pair arrived at an abandoned building, at least from Seven’s perspective.  
  
“Why are we here?” She asked.  
  
“There’s a sage from the other side that lives here. He’ll be able to help.”  
“What are you talking about. This is an abandoned building. The front door has even been sealed shut with bricks.”  
“Wait… you can’t see it?”  
“See what? There’s nothing there.”  
“The café!”  
“Yes, they're very lovely bricks Shouri. Look, I can see and hear in frequencies you’ve never even heard of. If I say it's not there, it’s not fucking there.”  
  
The boy sighed. “Whatever, I’ll take it from here.” Seven frowned hard, but released Blakki. He trudged inside of the building, which would appear to the artificial resonator as if he walked through solid brick.  
  
“There’s nothing there though…” She glared at the mysterious building she just watched her partner in crime vanish into.  
  
Shouri meanwhile, made it into Sahji’s without incident.  
  
“Sahji! Get out here!”  
  
The curtain in the back marked “Employee only” parted as the aforementioned sage walked into the room.  
  
“Do you have any idea-” He paused seeing the state Shouri and Blakki were in. “-what time it is…?” He muttered. Following that sentence, he picked up the resonator with a little telekinesis and moved her to the ground gently. “What the hell did you do?!” The sage barked as he began to look the unconscious resonator over.  
  
“I-I don’t know, we were heading home as usual and she suddenly started bleeding and collapsed!” Shouri cried out, his voice cracking as the panic eroded away at his ability to control his voice.  
  
Sahji wiped the blood from her face with his robes, uncaring of how much it was stained by this. He pressed his fingers on a few places, her neck, her wrist, the temples on her head. Finally, he lifted her head up and felt the back of her skull. “…Shouri…” He gently set her head back down.  
  
The sage turned to the maestro, he glared at the boy, deadly serious. “Have you used that control button?”  
  
The maestro froze. He could feel his own heart beating hard in his chest. The way Sahji had stopped and was glaring at him…  
  
The brunet gulped before he spoke. “Y-yes…” He admitted shakily.  
  
“How many times?”  
“Once or twice a night…”  
“For how long?”  
“Maybe a week and a half..?”  
  
Sahji began to laugh. It was a sad, hollow laugh. “You idiot.” He finally spoke. “You might have killed her.”  
  
Shouri visibly trembled at those humbling five words. A deep, cold sweat covered his entire body as he heard his heart beat in his ears. “I… killed her…?” Tears welled up in his eyes as they slowly fell on the girl he had put there. He shook his head. “N-n-no… you’re lying…” His voice was a mere squeak of its former self.  
  
“Think of the control button like this: it’s the difference between rewarding a good dog with a treat and punishing a bad dog by beating it.” Sahji rose from his position on the ground, his silver and gold robes covered in the blood he had wiped away from the unconscious resonator. He glared down at the sad, pathetic maestro beneath him. “That control button is the equivalent of beating your dog, with a bat. Sure, one time might not do much, but if you beat that dog every day, it’s gonna succumb to it’s injuries eventually.” If Shouri was in his right mental state he would have been able to catch the practical growl in Sahji’s voice.  
  
“I… did that to her…? I didn’t… I’m sorry…” At this point Shouri was a hysterical mess, tears poured down his face. He couldn’t look at Blakki’s unmoving form. He had beaten her to death.  
  
“Only bad maestros kill their resonators with that button. I thought I could trust you people on this side.” He shook his head. Shouri’s tuner flew from his side and into Sahji’s hands. “You won’t need this anymore.” The sage muttered looking over the device. He flipped it around, observing every piece of plastic that made up its form. It had been lovingly cared for; it was a shame the same couldn’t have been said for the resonator it was attached to.  
  
Sahji pocketed the device, and turned his attention to the blubbering adult that was still in his presence. “Get out.” He growled at the boy, who refused to move. “I need to work. I might be able to save her still.” Despite Shouri’s reluctance to move, Sahji would get his way. The boy would be picked up and tossed from the shop by a telekinetic force.  
  
The wish sage turned to Blakki. With a wave of his hand she floated in the air. “You’re lucky those morons on the other side have gotten really good at fixing their own fuck ups.” He sighed. “Though it just means they don’t learn their lessons…”  
  
\---  
  
RING RING RING  
  
The sound of an artificial bell woke Aureolin Tomoshibi from her slumber. Her phone vibrated and rang as loud as possible from a caller she had yet to identify. Picking up the desperately buzzing device, she noted the time  
  
4:21AM  
  
And the caller  
  
Shouri  
  
“Shouri?!” She called out, answering the call.  
  
“Hello? Who is this?” An unfamiliar voice asked.  
  
The woman’s heart began to race as she flipped out of bed. “Who are you? Why do you have my brother’s phone?!” She demanded, the obvious fear rising in her voice.  
  
“Ma’am, please remain calm as I tell you this, but my name is Jackie Spade, and I’m a paramedic. We found your number in his cell phone’s ICE contacts. Does your family have any heart conditions?”  
  
“What? Why are you asking me that? What happened to Shouri?”  
  
“Ma’am, please work with me here, we’re trying to save his life.”  
  
Aura’s blood ran cold. Save his life? With her phone still pressed against the side of her face she rushed from her room to Shouri’s room. Neither the brother in question nor his ubiquitous fox girl were there.  
  
“B-Blakki, is a girl named Blakki with him?” She asked in desperation.  
  
“No ma’am he was alone. An anonymous caller reported his collapse.” The paramedic spoke calmly. “Does Mr. Tomoshibi have any allergies? Any medications he can’t take?” The paramedic went back to information gathering.  
  
“N-no allergies… Where is he?”  
  
“Do you have something to write with? I’ll give you the address.”  
  
\---  
  
Amika’s alarm went off. Pacifica opened her eyes slowly as she felt her maestro shift around in bed. As usual she was most likely silencing her phone’s alarm.  
  
The otter girl slowly closed her eyes, attempting to return to sleep. “That’s weird.” Pacifica opened her eyes slowly as she felt the other girl sit up in bed.  
  
“Hello? Shouri?”  
“Aura? Why do you have his phone?”  
“What?!”  
  
Pacifica sat up with a start. “’mika?” She asked.  
  
“No, I haven’t seen her but we’re on our way!”  
  
The water resonator looked baffled. Fear. That’s what she felt from her maestro. Amika allowed her phone to fall from her hand onto the bed. She trembled for a moment, breathing hard. She reached over and pinched the back of her hand with her other hand.  
  
“P-P-pacifica… we need to go to the hospital.”  
  
The girl gulped.  
  
“Why?” She finally asked after much hesitation.  
  
“Shouri collapsed, he’s not waking up.”  
  
\---  
  
The whirring of the automatic door to the ER was what greeted young Amika Castillo and her partner Pacifica to the hospital. Neither girl had ever been to a hospital in their life.  
  
Amika took the initiative and rushed to the front counter. “How can I help you?” The front desk attendant asked.  
  
“Shouri Tomoshibi. He was just brought in, where is he?”  
  
The attendant typed in the name and stared at the screen for a moment  
  
“ICU room 196. It will be just down that hallway, you’ll need to walk a bit of a distance to reach it.” They spoke up after a moment.  
  
Amika gulped, but nodded. “Thanks.” She walked in the direction the helpful attendant had pointed. Pacifica’s eyes met the eyes of their guide, who raised an eyebrow at the presence of the otter featured girl, but just dismissed it and went about their business.  
  
The pair walked down the quiet hospital hallway. “What is ICU?” Pacifica asked, not familiar with the acronym.  
  
The maestro came to a stop. Her gaze slowly fell towards the ground, her fists clenched tightly. “Intensive Care Unit, its where they put the people really close to dying at.” She finally spoke up.  
  
They remained standing in the hallway for a moment, surrounded by the ambient noise of busy medical equipment.  
  
“Come on Pacifica.” The female maestro continued walking. The pair resumed their radio silence as they walked, partly to respect the other patients, and partly due to not knowing what to expect when they reached their destination.  
  
The walk to the designated room felt like it took an eternity, but the pair finally arrived. The door to the room was open, only ambient light from the rising sun poking in through the drawn drapes. The strange irregular beeping of the heart monitor being the only noise.  
  
Amika bit her bottom lip hard as she stared into the room. Shouri laid in the bed, totally unmoving. Aura was sitting next to the bed in a chair, head down.  
  
“Aura?” The maestro finally gathered the courage to call out to the older woman.  
  
She looked up when called for, her face was covered in despair-laden tears, eyes red and thick dark circles under the red eyes in question. Her normally neat tidy hair was a mess, not done up in any way, she lacked any of her usual make-up that was always carefully applied before a day of work and/or school.  
  
Even her clothes told a story of how she received the news. A big, old t-shirt and pajama pants. She must have awoken to the news.  
  
Pacifica felt it the hardest. While Aura lacked rhythm, the raw emotion from the older woman permeated the resonator’s very being, painting a very clear picture of the non-maestro’s current mental state.  
  
“What happened? Where’s Blakki?” Amika asked, walking over to the despairing relative. She grabbed a chair and sat next to the other woman.  
  
“I don’t know. I just got a call that he collapsed. I don’t know where Blakki is. Something must have happened. She wouldn’t leave his side.” Aura replied, her voice hoarse and clearly worn.  
  
Amika looked to her resonator. Pacifica nodded. “We’ll try and find Blakki. We know a few people.” The maestro tried to re-assure the grieving sibling.  
  
“I don’t want to lose him like mom and dad…” Aura broke down once again in tears.  
  
\---  
  
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
Ally stirred from her slumber. She looked around. Faith was sleeping next to her soundly, not bothered by the sudden noise. It was early morning, that much was obvious from the hues that were entering in from the window.  
  
The rabbit girl yawned, stretching in bed.  
  
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
She raised an eyebrow. Who was this persistent this early in the morning? The resonator felt the bed moving next to her. Faith had awoken and sat up. “Someone knocking?” She asked.  
  
“Yeah.” Ally nodded.  
  
“I’ll get it. I swear to god if it’s a solicitor this fuckin’ early in the morning…”  
  
Irritated, the maestro rose from their bed and walked around and out of the room. Ally, having a strange feeling about this, got out of bed a moment later and followed her maestro.  
  
Faith threw open the door. Her eyes went wide. Seven stood there.  
  
“S-seven?” Faith stepped back in surprise. It wasn’t the presence of the artificial resonator that was shocking. “You actually knocked..?” It was her behavior.  
  
“Seven!?” Ally immediately rushed over and stood behind her maestro, glaring at the other resonator. However, her harsh glare would fade into concern as soon as the artificial resonator spoke.  
  
“Please… help me…” She fell to her knees, groveling before the pair. “Ally, Faith…”  
  
The duo looked between each other, absolutely baffled as to what was going on. “I hurt him; all he wanted to do was protect his friends. Now they’re both dying.” She looked up, tears streaming down her face. “Faith, please help me stop father.” She turned her tear-filled gaze to Ally. “You too. Please help me Ally. I don’t want this to be in vain for him.”  
  
The pair just stared at the pleading girl. She reached to her side, which immediately put the two on edge, but what she produced wasn’t within their expectations. The magenta haired girl held out a tuner, not any special modified one, but an honest to goodness tuner, linked to her. Her hands trembled as she offered the device to the only maestro she could turn to. “Please, use me. I want to stop him. I don’t want our father to hurt anyone else…”  
  
Hesitantly, the maestro reached out and placed her hand over the device. Immediately the name Shouri Tomoshibi was erased from the display  
  
Faith Saitou


	26. Chapter 26

I remember the crunching of the cold white powder under my feet. The piercing frigid air that pierced my lungs. Despite losing it all, these feelings, this scene was seared onto my very soul, my very being.  
  
How did I lose it a second time?  
  
What did I do wrong?  
  
I thought what we had was special. Why does this not surprise me? Why do I feel as if this is the fate I deserve? It’s what I was always told. I was never worth anything. All I had going for me was my body.  
  
Who I was didn’t matter.  
  
When I thought I could soar above conflict, reality would ground me in my hubris.  
  
Where most would succumb to their despair, I would find my light.  
  
I was a fool to think I could do it over again. No matter how many times I sing this song and dance this dance, it always ends up this way.  
  
Why then? Why did it hurt like this? I thought I had been hurt to insensibility.  
  
Drip drip drip drip  
  
I looked up, the snow was ever present around me in this vast void of white. But there was something strange and new joining the cold, oppressive flakes of frozen water.  
  
Warmth. Drops of warm water began to fall. Each drop that hit me assailed me with not physical force, but the force of emotion. These were not drops of just mere water.  
  
They were tears.  
  
Each bullet of emotion that hit me filled me with the thoughts and feelings of those who cast them towards me. Were they cast towards me, or did I happen upon the correct place?  
  
No  
  
Our two souls were united suddenly one day. Your soul was on fire, shining on me as if it were a spotlight. I was drawn to your heart, being enveloped by the louder and stronger rhythm. I know you could hear me, but had trouble describing it with words.  
  
When we met, our fate was linked in a way neither of us could have imagined. That single moment when our eyes met, that was the end of our solitary life styles. With a confident smirk we walked straight into a nightmare most would flee from.  
  
And I did it with you by my side.  
  
We chased that bright dream, but maybe it was too bright, as it led us to ruin.  
  
But you know what?  
  
I just wanted to hold your hand, and push on.  
  
You really didn’t mean it did you? You were doing it for me. You would become the devil itself for my sake.  
  
How could I even begin to thank you for such loyalty?  
  
I promised you I’d follow you straight into hell. I want to make due on that promise. I want to pull you back. No force in the universe can stop me. If need be, I’ll wander the world calling your name for all time. Even if you push me away, I’ll always come back.   
  
Because I’m your partner!  
  
\---  
  
Sapphire blue eyes opened suddenly.  
  
Liquid. They were surrounded by liquid. A breathing apparatus around their mouth kept air in their lungs and promoted natural breathing. Through the clear liquid, they could see a dark room. Some bookshelves with the occasional bit of machinery. The fluid that surrounded them was warmed to body temperature.  
  
A pair of hands moved up and pressed against the glass tube that surrounded them.  
  
What even happened?  
  
It all rushed back suddenly.  
  
 _“Who’s she Sho?”  
“Well she’s-“  
“Don’t tell her. Just use the tuner to send her home.”  
  
“What is she talking about?”  
“Blakki, forget the last two minutes. Go home and sleep for eight hours.”  
“Alright Shouri, let’s get started.”_  
  
Blakki floated in a strange tube of warm liquid. It had all come back to her. Shouri had met with a strange magenta haired girl. But she never remembered this when waking up. The tuner that she thought was a symbol of their bond could be used so maliciously, chaining up her free will and bringing it under its submission. The feeling of being underfoot of someone or something was so familiar to her. However, the warmth of those tears she felt; such regret filled tears.   
  
The fox-girl knew what she had to do.  
  
Thud thud thud  
  
Sahji walked around the corner and noted his guest’s newly regained consciousness. He walked up to the tube and looked up at the girl who stared down at him in confusion. The sage smiled, before snapping a finger.  
  
The water began to drain, gently easing Blakki back into gravity. Once the water was gone, the breathing apparatus released its restraint that held itself to the girl’s head and withdrew into the top of the machine. Lastly, the glass shrunk into the base of the enclosure, allowing the previous occupant to leave.  
  
Hopping down, Blakki noted her clothes were totally dry, despite just being surrounded in water. “What that thing?” Was her first question, looking back at the machine that was now behind her.  
  
“Everything wrong with the other world. Why actually suffer consequences for your actions, when you can just have technology fix it?” Sahji smiled, despite the harsh criticism he was throwing down. “Anyways, how do you feel?”  
  
“Bene, where’s Sho?”  
“He’s not here. You’ve been released from his care.”  
  
A pair of concerned eyebrows were raised at that confusing wording. “What do you mean?”  
  
He motioned for the girl to follow him. The pair left the back room and returned to the familiar main room of the café. The sage produced the tuner he had liberated from Shouri’s possession, handing it over to the resonator. “You may present this to any maestro you wish. It’s been cleared of it’s user data, but is still linked to you.”  
  
The strange other-worldly device sat in her hand. She had never even touched the device before, much less held it. Her hand slowly closed around the device as she gripped it tightly. An angry glare was shot at Sahji.  
  
“Where is he?” She demanded.  
  
Sahji ignored the glare he was receiving. “Norrmalmstorgssyndromet?” He looked perplexed for just a moment. A smile formed on his lips and then the sage chuckled and shrugged. “He killed you. If I had not stepped in your life would have been forfeit.” He returned Blakki’s glare with one of his own. “Why would you willingly go back to that?”  
  
“Were you ever human? I don’t think you were.” Blakki was now looking down at the sage, despite him having a couple inches on her. “People make mistakes. I’m going to find him. Whether or not you help me.”  
  
Another chuckle. “Fine. There’s the door.”  
  
Blakki walked to the door. She stopped just before reaching out for the handle. Facing the door, she spoke. “You know, for a wish sage, you really suck at people.”  
  
With that, the girl was gone from the shop.  
  
Once he knew the girl was out of earshot, the sage broke his facade.“Hahahahahahaaaa! Blakki, you’re really interesting this time!” He wiped some tears from his eyes, recomposing herself “I suppose no matter what, you always give me a good story.” The lone sage mused to himself.  
  
\---  
  
Her ears were folded back and her soft black and white tail whipped behind her as she ran. Despite having been given no actual direction or even a hint of where to go, Blakki was drawn towards one place. The place she knew where her partner was.  
  
She continued to hold the tuner that Sahji had returned to her. There wasn’t a force on the planet that could separate her from that device at this moment in time. The looks people gave her were of no consequence. She just ran, pulled by an invisible force.  
  
The nineteen-year-old resonator arrived at the building where her precious maestro was being held. She panted hard, having run from Sahji’s all the way across town to arrive here. The excessive heat she felt coming off of her body coupled with the sweat attempting to cool her were of little consequence. There was only one goal she had that would not waver.  
  
Walking into the hospital, she walked straight up to the front desk. The attendant stationed at the desk raised an eyebrow at the strange fox-featured girl. “Can I help you?” They decided on.  
  
“Shouri Tomoshibi, where is he?”  
“ICU Room 196.”  
“Thank you.”  
“Wait.”  
  
The fox-girl had only turned to leave when she stopped mid step. “Cosa c'è?” She asked, looking to the attendant.  
  
“What’s with the ears and tail? Halloween isn’t for another few months.” They commented, pointing to the top of their own head. They then watched the ears fold back and the tail swish back and forth in annoyance.  
  
“They’re apart of me. I don’t see the problem.” She stated simply before walking away.  
  
The mere front-desk worker remained quiet for a moment, before deciding on “Huh.”  
  
\---  
  
The resonator walked down the hallway, she wasn’t sure what to expect. She only knew that Shouri was here, and that’s why she had asked where he was. Even walking straight up to the desk and asking in full confidence failed to curb her anxiousness which only rose as she continued walking through the sterile, silent, white halls of the hospital.  
  
Even so, she had totally gotten over her fear of being out in the open. She would now proudly display her ears and tail. It was what made her unique, and what gave her the right to call herself Shouri’s partner. At least that’s how she felt.  
  
The room numbers kept rising as she walked down the halls, eventually reaching the 190’s.  
  
191  
192  
193  
194  
195  
  
The girl came to a stop. She gulped. She saw the small burgundy colored plastic sign that hung next to room 196. The door was slightly ajar, but the lights were off on the inside. She bit her bottom lip, trembling a bit. Taking in a deep breath, she exhaled before walking to the door. Placing her hand on the door, her ears stood up straight.  
  
Uneven beeping and two heart beats. One was normal, rhythmic, even; the other beat was uneven and matched the beeping.  
  
With a sigh, she pushed the door open. Instantly, her heart sank at the sight before her eyes. Aura sat next to the bed, her head down, in her hands.  
  
And then…  
  
Shouri laid in the bed, hooked up to all kinds of machinery. Eyes closed, unmoving. Only a tinge of fear left her when she noticed his very shallow breathing.  
  
There was a gulp before she finally spoke up. “Aura.”  
  
The older woman snapped her head up. “B-Blakki!? Where have you been?!” The woman rushed around the bed to confirm this wasn’t some delusion. Before the fox-girl could answer, her eyes went wide in surprise as Aura wrapped her arms around her form, hugging her tightly.  
  
Blakki couldn’t help but smile warmly. “I was dreaming.” She whispered. Pushing the other girl off of her, she held Aura’s shoulders at arm’s length. “What happened to Sho though?” She asked, stealing a glance to the currently unconscious boy.  
  
Aura’s expression morphed into further despair, as she cast her gaze to the side. “I-I was really hoping you would know. All I was told was that he collapsed suddenly.” She pondered what to say next. After a moment, she found the words. “The doctors say his heart is giving out. It started as sudden arrhythmia, but it’s getting weaker. He’s on a waiting list for a heart transplant, but…” The elder sibling bit her bottom lip.  
  
The fox girl trembled. Her breathing picked up to coincide with the increase of her own heart rate. He was dying. Aura didn’t need to sugarcoat it.  
  
With a sigh, she looked over the other girl. She wasn’t aware of how long had passed since she blacked out herself. But Aura’s disheveled appearance spoke volumes.  
  
“Go home.” Blakki spoke firmly (which surprised Aura)  
  
“But what if-”  
“Sho wouldn’t want you to literally worry yourself to death. Go home, get cleaned up and sleep for a little bit. I’ll be here with him.”  
  
Somehow, those words were incredibly comforting to the grieving woman. “If anything happens-”  
  
“You’ll be the first to know, I promise.” Blakki smiled. Aura nodded. She grabbed her purse and moved back to the door, she passed by her brother’s resonator and stood in the hallway.  
  
“He’ll be fine.”  
  
Aura turned back to see Blakki smiling at her. “Trust me.” The confident expression the normally meek, timid resonator wore was disarming. Oddly though, it was as if the other girl was exuding a positive aura that was almost infectious.  
  
For the first time since the start of this crisis, Aureolin Tomoshibi smiled. “I trust you, Blakki.”  
  
\---  
  
The ever-vigilant lunar resonator, Blakki had taken Aura’s spot. The tuner which had been taken back from Sahji laid on a nearby nightstand as she kept her unending watch of its owner. She held Shouri’s hand, hoping that he could feel or sense her presence somewhere in his mind. She wanted him to know that she was okay.  
  
The fox-girl was in her own thoughts, wondering what she would say when he woke up. There was so much she wanted to say to him. Since her memories had been totally freed after waking up at Sahji’s, she knew there was another girl, another resonator at that. However, she didn’t know the extent of their relationship.  
  
The one thing she did know, is Shouri was doing whatever he was doing for a reason. That’s what she wanted to know.  
  
Why?  
  
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed; several nurses had come and gone, checking on his condition. The resonator didn’t pay them any mind, and they did their best to work around her.  
  
The next time Blakki became cognizant of what was around her was when the door creaked open and two people walked in. The two pairs of eyes met her own. There was a moment of silence as all parties observed each other.  
  
The newcomers were both much older, a male and female, and would speak up first.  
  
“Oho, what did I tell you, Mary?”  
“Oh hush Marsuru.”  
  
Blakki raised an eyebrow. These two old people seemed to have a lot of energy despite their apparent age. “Can I help you?” She asked.  
  
“Ah, the spirit talks.” The man addressed as Marsuru smiled at the fox-girl.  
  
This didn’t help Blakki’s confusion at the sudden entrance of this enigmatic pair. The woman shook her head and decided to actually introduce themselves. “My name is Mary Tomoshibi, this is my husband Marsuru. We’re visiting our grandson, Shouri.”  
  
The younger girl’s eyes went wide. She stood up. “Ah! Uh! C-ciao, mi chiamo Blakki, è un piacere conoscerti!” She managed to get out, failing to realize neither of the people she was introducing herself to spoke any Italian.  
  
The two looked between each other. “That sounded pretty European.” Mary noted. “My grandson attracts some interesting attention.” Marsuru laughed.  
  
Blakki, realizing what she had done, hastily corrected herself. “S-sorry, my name is Blakki, it’s nice to meet you!” She repeated, this time in English.  
  
“So Miss-Blakki, what is your relation to young Shouri?” The older man asked. Blakki’s eyes darted to the tuner that laid on the nightstand, something that wasn’t missed by the surprisingly observant grandparent.  
  
“It’s complicated…” She decided on, folding her ears back.  
  
“Are you a malevolent spirit?”  
“Eh?”  
  
Mary elbowed her husband at this point. “What? It’s an honest question Mary!” He barked at his wife.  
  
“Stop fooling around. You’re always like this.” The elderly woman growled at her other half. “Fine fine.” He conceded. “For the record, I didn’t think she was. Black foxes are considered good omens in my home country.” He explained.  
  
Blakki blinked. She was a black fox, a demi-human yes, but she was part fox. He seemed to be focusing on that aspect of her, which felt odd for the young girl.   
  
“You’re watching over my grandson, right?”  
“I-I am.”  
“His guardian?”  
“I guess, technically, yeah.”  
  
Marsuru took in a deep breath and then exhaled. He stepped closer to the bed and looked over his son’s child. After a moment, he nodded then turned to his wife. “Okay Mary, let’s get going.” He decided.  
  
“What. We came all the way here.”  
“Yes we did, and he’s going to be fine.”  
“Are you serious?”  
“I am. Even in America, my family is protected by Inari.  
“You’re unbelievable.”  
“Let’s go home. I’m gonna miss my stories.”  
  
And with that Marsuru Tomoshibi left the room. Mary turned to Blakki. She smiled warmly. “I’m sorry about him. He lives in his own little world.” The woman told the resonator. “You said your name was Blakki right?”  
  
The fox-girl nodded. “Next time we meet hopefully Shouri can introduce you to us properly.” The woman said simply before turning and leaving herself.  
  
“His guardian…” The girl’s eyes slowly trained down at the still unconscious Shouri. That felt warm to her. There had to be something she could do. Something only she could do. He was her partner. Something, anything!  
  
 _“Your kind, caring soul seeks to soothe others through the rhythm it is provided.”  
  
_ Those words echoed in her head. She was a healer. Of course, it wasn’t that easy, but she was a healer. It wasn’t just a title; it was her very being. It was who she was. She snatched up the tuner from the night stand.  
  
“You’re not going to die Sho. There’s so much I haven’t told you.” She decided on. The girl sat back down in the chair. With a new determination, she placed the tuner in her maestro’s hand and wrapped her hand around his.  
  
At first, she couldn’t feel his rhythm. The arrhythmic heart beats continued to play on through the heart monitor like some kind of cosmic-taunting.  
  
The girl closed her eyes. The beeping was horrible and was ruining her concentration. If nothing else she wanted him to hear her.  
  
“Sho…”  
“I don’t know what my life was like before I met you.”  
“I only know it was cold. I was probably alone. I was probably afraid.”  
“You saved me. From them, from myself.”  
“But now you’re laying here and I can’t do anything.”  
“I don’t want you to die. I want you to keep living with me. I want to keep fighting with you.”  
“But most importantly, I want you to know-”  
  
\---  
  
It's a little-known fact that those who have been swallowed up by the darkness of their own heart rarely recover. Those who have resigned to their fate are pulled deeper and deeper into it. Slowly they lose themselves and their body shuts down as they are sucked into the abyss.  
  
For one who has given up, who has lost everything, there is no place for them but to sink into the abyss.  
  
The cold, unforgiving abyss. The great equalizer. The loud melody of life is slowly lost as it becomes indistinguishable from the background noise that makes up the universe.  
  
However, despite all that  
  
Shouri Tomoshibi felt a warmth. In the darkness he had surrounded himself in, there was a warmth. His left hand he could feel the warmth of another person. Someone who was begging, pleading for him to return.  
  
He couldn’t though. Not after what he did. He could justify it all day logically, but that didn’t stop him from feeling bad about it. He betrayed their trust.  
  
“But Sho!”  
  
No, he couldn’t. This was his punishment. This is what he earned. History repeated itself. He wasn’t meant to be happy. It wasn’t-  
  
“Shouri.”  
  
…  
  
“Shouri Tomoshibi.”  
  
……  
  
“You really are an idiot, aren’t you?”  
“I’m glad you haven’t changed.”  
“But really, come on! This is how you want to go out? Heart failure? Lame!”  
“To be fair you’re not a fighter, you’re a thinker.”  
“I guess that’s what I always loved about you.”  
“Real talk! It’s not your time! So get! You have a lovely vixen that’s crying for you! Don’t keep her waiting!”  
“But… before you go, there’s one last thing I want to tell you.”  
  
\---  
  
“-I forgive you”  
  
Shouri stared at Blakki, tears streaming down his face. The girl who forgave him was definitely Blakki, but as her lips moved to speak those words, he saw the faint image of another girl right next to his resonator.  
  
“Lina..?” He muttered as the image faded from his mind, leaving only the girl who sat by his side.  
  
The resonator stared, still with an iron-grip around her partner’s hand “Sho? Are you-?”  
“Good morning, Blakki.” The boy smiled, despite the tears still streaming down his face.  
  
“BUONGIORNO, SHO!”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of the first arc of the story. I hope you've enjoyed the ride so far.
> 
> This story was based on a story I wrote about five years ago, it was pretty much the same up until Pacifica woke up at Sahji's. Everything after that is totally different from what I had written five years prior.
> 
> I'm happy with the way this turned out. The original story had the same moral conflict with Shouri deciding whether or not to use the control button, but in the original he never used it. I feel pushing Shouri and Blakki down that dark path and coming back from it would make their relationship much stronger and more realistic, now both having been at their lows and coming back from it.
> 
> I would like to hear everyone's opinions about this arc, so feel free to hit me up on here, discord, or twitter!


	27. Chapter 27

“B-but why? Y-you said I was the only one…”  
“Vienna, I never said that. If you and your sister had only stayed out of this, you would have been spared a world of pain.”  
“They just want to be happy, what’s wrong with that?!”  
“Whistler, show her the door please.”  
“FATHER YOU CAN’T DO THIS! I’M YOUR DAUGHTER!”  
“Vienna, please, die with dignity. Your sister did.”  
  
…  
  
“She’s gone.”  
“Do you remember her appearance?”  
“Yup.”  
“I have your next task.”  
  
\---  
  
A pair of fox-ears poked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. A young girl of nineteen years eagerly watched the door, her fluffy black and white tail swishing back and forth in anticipation of the approaching figure.  
  
The door opened and in stepped a boy of nineteen years and his doctor. “Well Shouri, you’re in perfect health. I don’t really have any further reason to keep you here. I’ll give you some paperwork to provide to your primary care physician to check in with in a few weeks. If you start feeling faint or your chest starts hurting, please call 911 immediately.”  
  
The boy nodded, accepting the paperwork. The doctor looked to the fox-girl. She had become almost a staple of the ICU for the past couple of weeks that they had stayed here. At first the doctors and nurses were intensely curious of the girl who possessed working vulpine features. However, after seeing her behave just like a normal person, they quickly adjusted to her presence. Her devotion to Shouri was a touch bit endearing to the point of the younger female nurses teasing the poor girl whenever Shouri wasn’t around.  
  
With that, Shouri turned to his partner. “Ready to go home Blakki?” He asked with a smile.  
  
The young fox girl returned his smile with one of her own. “Sì!”  
  
\---  
  
Aura tilted her rearview mirror back to look at the two teenagers in the backseat of her car. Shouri and Blakki were happily chatting among themselves about what they were going to do when they got home. The driver smiled at the turn of events.  
  
Before she was told her brother wouldn’t make it and would deteriorate over the course of that week. Now here they were two weeks later and he was given a clean bill of health and given the OK to go home without needing any kind of heart transplant.  
  
She knew Blakki had done something to heal him, but neither the maestro nor resonator would admit to anything. They both claimed it just kind of happened. Aura’s grandfather had said something to the effect of “Inari won’t let that boy die, they sent one of their messengers to watch over him after all.” The older man spoke in riddles much to the annoyance of his wife and Aura’s grandmother, Mary. However, the elder sibling knew their grandfather was referring to Blakki.  
  
The car arrived home, and much to their surprise, Amika and Pacifica were waiting on the steps of their apartment building.  
  
“He lives!” Amika declared upon seeing the boy actually walking to them.  
  
“’mika, we visited him after he woke up.” Pacifica reminded her own maestro.  
  
“Yeah, but now it’s official.” Amika countered.  
  
“Good morning to you as well.” Shouri rolled his eyes. “Can we get inside? It’s kinda muggy out today.”  
  
Without much more argument, the small group headed inside. For the first time in a couple of weeks, Shouri and Blakki were home. The fox-girl had the option of going home at any time, but refused so she could stay by her maestro’s side. No one argued with her, as they all knew they would need to drag her from Shouri’s side kicking and screaming.  
  
SMACK  
  
“’M-MIKA!”  
  
Blakki and Pacifica were both on their feet. Shouri’s head was turned to the side, his left cheek significantly redder than before.  
  
“How DARE you do that to HER!” The other maestro growled. Shouri had just revealed what all had happened between himself, Seven, and Blakki.  
  
“’Mika stop!” Pacifica pulled her own maestro back in a vain attempt to prevent any further damage.  
  
Amika, naturally, resisted this, wanting to even out the red on Shouri’s face.  
  
“She’s right.” Shouri replied simply. “Honestly, I don’t know why Blakki is so forgiving.”  
  
The fox girl looked down. She should have been more upset than she had been, but deep down, she knew very well how Shouri felt about the whole thing and was willing to forgive him for what he had put both of them through. She inhaled deeply before quietly exhaling. “He did it for a reason. Seven wouldn’t have given him as much information as she did if she didn’t think I was out of the picture. We now know much more about Ryo Saitou than we did before.” The girl explained, hoping her own explanation would quell the enraged maestro.   
  
Said enraged maestro broke free of her own resonator’s grasp, but didn’t immediately charge the accused. Instead she grumpily looked away. “You’re lucky she forgives you. If she didn’t you might have had a pair of black eyes to go with your red face.” She grumbled, folding her arms across her chest.  
  
After a moment of silence, Amika spoke up again. “So what did you find out?”  
  
Shouri explained artificial resonators, and who Seven was.  
  
“So she was a dead chick they brought back to life and made into a resonator?” The female maestro asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
“More or less.” Pacifica nodded, actually having met Seven once herself.  
  
Shouri nodded as well confirming that fact, though he put it a little less simply than that. “After using all of her spells, I have a good idea of what she’s capable of, so if Ryo takes control of her, we’ll be able to fight back.”  
  
The other maestro in the room picked up on something. “Wait a second, you said you had used the empty tuner I had given to you, what happened to that?”  
  
The male maestro frowned. “I dunno. I think Seven took it off of me at some point before I went to the hospital. I couldn’t find it among my things. I only have Blakki’s tuner, which she took back from Sahji.” He explained. Turning around in his chair, he checked his own desk to see if he could locate the missing device.  
  
“Hrm, she didn’t leave it here either.” He frowned.  
  
“How would she have done that?” Amika asked.  
  
“Seven has the ability to enter computer networks and travel them. She doesn’t understand why she can do that, but she does have that capability. Which Ryo uses to make sure people don’t start talking about resonators or scherzando.” He leaned back in his chair, facing the other pair as he spoke.  
  
Amika nodded, digesting all of this new information. “I understand what that resonator is, so my next question is: Are you going to fight Ryo?”  
  
Shouri nodded. “Yeah. We have to bring the fight to him, otherwise he’s going to complete whatever doomsday machine Seven said he was working on and wipe us out first.” The boy reported rather gravely.  
  
The group of four remained quiet for a moment. “I think we need to get Faith and Ally next.” Blakki chimed in. “We fought her once, and they’re probably one of the best maestro-resonator pairs around.”  
  
Amika hummed in thought before speaking up. “Pacifica told me about that. They were flinging around Fortissimo spells like they were going out of style. I’d feel a bit better with that kind of firepower on our side, no offense to you two.”  
  
“None taken. I want them on our side as well.” Shouri agreed with that line of thought. Though something was concerning him that he’d need to look into.  
  
\---  
  
“Absolutely not!”  
“Aura, be reasonable! Amika and Sonia have had to play double duty for two weeks because we couldn’t help with the scherzando!”  
“You JUST got back out of the hospital! You are NOT going out to fight so soon!”  
  
Shouri looked away gritting his teeth. He put himself in that situation in the first place. It didn’t feel right for him to take any more time off. Blakki stood in the hallway, gripping the edge of the wall as she watched the two siblings argue. She dare not chime in lest she also incur Aura’s wrath.  
  
“Fine!”  
  
The maestro stomped in Blakki’s direction, grabbing her hand as he walked by. The resonator stole a glance back at the similarly angry sister as she was pulled back into her maestro’s room.  
  
SLAM  
“You’re an ASS!” They both heard Aura shout from the sanctity of their bedroom. Shouri sighed, dropping into his chair.  
  
“This blows.” He grumbled, pulling out his cell phone.  
  
Blakki walked over to the bed and took a seat herself. “She kind of has a point though. I’m sure Amika and Sonia don’t mind.” The resonator offered helpfully.  
  
Finishing texting his compatriots alerting them of his absence, he threw the phone onto his desk. The teen turned to his computer and stared at it for a moment. Blakki herself was about to figure out what she wanted to do when she heard Shouri’s chair move. The fox-girl watched him get up from his desk and turn off the light before returning to the bed. He stood in front of Blakki who remained seated.  
  
“C-cosa c'è… Sho?” The girl blinked, noting he was staring down at her.  
  
Without another word, he crawled around her and laid down. She remained sitting at the edge of the bed for a moment. She felt him moving around behind her and then felt his hand next to her. “Here.” He said. Looking down, the tuner now laid unceremoniously on the bed.  
  
“Perché?”  
“To keep me honest.”  
“I don’t think I have to worry about that.  
  
Shouri flipped over, Blakki turned to him. The pair stared at eachother.  
  
“Blakki, I HURT you. Apologizing will never be enough. You could have DIED.”  
  
This was a conversation they had avoided in the hospital. The discussion was rather grim, and the last thing they needed was for the nosy doctors and nurses to get involved (or more than they already were).  
  
The girl looked down, trying to process her own thoughts. “I was mad at first. But, I felt that you didn’t do it out of malice. You genuinely thought that you were doing it for our sake. And you didn’t know that the tuner would hurt me like that.” She explained her thoughts.  
  
“Talk is cheap. Just take the tuner.”  
“Okay.”  
  
Blakki picked up the device and put it on the desk. She returned to the bed. “What are you doing?” The maestro asked. The girl stood up on her knees and took off her jacket, leaving her white t-shirt. With a spin of her wrist, her favorite jacket was tossed to the side.  
  
“Keeping you honest.” Shouri saw her smile through the moonlight that shone through the window. She plopped down next to him, grabbing his shirt and pulling on it lightly.  
  
The boy’s face reddened slightly as he got the hint and scooted closer to his resonator. She wrapped her arms around his torso and buried her face into his chest.  
  
“What are you doing?” He repeated.  
  
“You can’t go on any midnight outings like this.” She whispered to him.  
  
“Why are you like this?”  
“Because I-”  
  
There was a noticeable pause.  
  
“-you’re my partner.” She decided on. Mentally, she cursed herself. She was in the right mood to speak her mind, but found herself totally incapable of doing so when it really counted.  
  
Shouri knew very well she could hear his elevated heartbeat and worked to calm himself. “Is it alright if I return the favor?” He asked.  
  
“Return the-?” She didn’t understand. But she would when Shouri draped his arms around her. Now it was her turn for her face to redden ever so slightly. This feeling would intensify as she felt him run his hand down her back. He reached the small of her back and pulled her closer into their embrace.  
  
“I don’t deserve this.” He muttered.  
  
“Shut up and sleep… you dummy.” The girl giggled.  
  
At this very moment in time, Blakki knew this was the happiest moment in her entire life.  
  
\---  
  
“No fuckin’ way…” Amika stared at her tuner. It was around two in the morning or so. A rather feisty lightning scherzando was giving them some trouble. Despite having the element-advantage on them, it was fleeing from their efforts.  
  
However, that’s not what Amika was in awe of.  
  
“Damn it! Stop running!” Pacifica cursed, getting sick of the cat and mouse games they seemed to be playing with their opponent today.  
  
“Let’s try this then: Ghiacciolo, Fortissimo!” The maestro declared.  
  
“What!? Since when!?” Pacifica yelped as she held a hand in the air. What formed resembled a spear of ice. The spear, once fully formed flew at its target, freezing the air behind it in its wake. The weapon moved at such an incredible speed that the lightning scherzando had no chance to dodge and was instantly skewered by the attack.  
  
“Woah… that was awesome…” Pacifica panted.  
  
Clap clap clap  
  
The pair turned to a nearby streetlamp where a figure sat atop of it. Wavy blue hair tied up with a green ribbon. Her yellow eyes looked down at the duo through her red-framed glasses. Her attire resembled a secretary: a white long-sleeved dress shirt and a knee length black skirt.  
  
The woman hopped down from the street lamp and effortlessly landed before the pair. Pacifica stepped in front of her maestro glaring at the newcomer.  
  
“Pacifica wha-”  
“She’s like Seven!”  
  
The newcomer raised an eyebrow. “Seven?” They paused to reflect that name. “Ohhh, okay. I get it.” She giggled.  
  
“Who are you?!” Pacifica barked. Her heart was racing. All she felt from this…thing was malice. Whoever this resonator was, was not here to make friends. They had one express purpose. Every fiber of Pacifica’s being could sense this and was screaming out at her to run.  
  
“My codename is Whistler. I’ll be your judge, jury, and executioner this evening.”


	28. Chapter 28

Warm.  
  
Comfortably warm  
  
Blakki slowly opened her eyes. Immediately her face was red when she realized she was still in Shouri’s arms from the night before. Her eyes slowly drifted closed when she also came to the same realization that she was comfortable. She fit up against his body so well, as if they were cut from the same mold.   
  
One of his arms was still around the small of her back, the other seemed to have found its way around the back of her head (she vaguely remembers him scratching her ears at one point). To complete his rather possessive positioning, his legs were wrapped around hers, and in turn, she wrapped her tail around him.  
  
She wasn’t sure what she could call their relationship right now. What they were doing right now wasn’t something “just friends” did. But the poor girl was too scared to actually ask. The biggest fear she had in her life was being rejected or ruining the relationship she had with her maestro. Which spoke volumes given that they fought magical creatures that want to kill and eat them on the daily.  
  
All she could do for the moment is enjoy the ride while it lasted. She knew Shouri wasn’t an idiot and would eventually question them himself. Maybe she’d gather the courage to admit her true feelings then.  
  
The fox-girl drifted in and out of consciousness for what felt like an eternity, until she was released from her maestro’s embrace. As they separated, the pair sat up.  
  
An awkward silence followed.  
  
“Good morning.”  
“Buongiorno.”  
  
Without another word, Shouri got out of bed and left the room. Blakki’s ears twitched upon hearing the bathroom door closed. Dang, he got the bathroom first; the girl thought to herself only realizing that she needed to make use of the facilities herself.  
  
A couple minutes later, Shouri returned to the room, and Blakki got up to follow a similar path in their morning routine.  
  
The maestro picked up his phone and thumbed through the messages. He raised an eyebrow. Something was wrong. He had messages from Sonia updating him on her progress through the night. But Amika’s ended abruptly. He flipped back and forth between the two sets of messages.  
  
Sonia sent messages at 1:45, 1:53, 2:03, 2:15, 2:18, 2:21, and finally, she sent a message saying she had gotten home at 2:37.  
  
Amika had sent him her own messages at 1:41, 1:47, 1:51, and then the last message was at 1:55. Oddly that message talked about finishing a lightning scherzando. Specifically, it said “Just beat a lightning scherzando, you’ll never guess what happened!”  
  
The message had no follow up however. He quickly thumbed a response. “Well, what happened?” and sent it. Blakki had returned to the room at this point, she stood at the door perplexed at the expression her maestro was making. After a moment of thought she called to him:  
  
“Sho?”  
“Get your shoes on, we’re going to Amika’s”  
  
\---  
  
Shouri and Blakki ran down the street, garnering all kinds of attention. A boy and his fox girl just running in broad daylight. Blakki could hear Shouri mutter every so often “Please be okay.”  
  
She really hoped that it was just technology failure and not something worse.  
  
They arrived at Amika’s apartment complex in record time. Shouri held himself up by his knees, hunched over and panting. He looked up, glaring at the building as if it were an enemy. “Fuck, how did I get back out of shape so quickly?” The teen managed to gasp out.  
  
“Does your chest hurt at all?” Blakki asked, concerned for her maestro’s health.  
  
“No, it’s fine. Just need to catch my breath.” He got out quickly to resume his hard panting. After another moment, he regained his composure and stood up straight. They entered the complex at more of a brisk walk now.  
  
Like their own home apartment, there weren’t many people or cars around during the day due to most everyone being at work.  
  
Shouri quickly led them to Amika’s building and then up the stairs to her unit. He quickly knocked on the door.  
  
Blakki bit her bottom lip, silently hoping that Pacifica would answer the door.  
  
But after five minutes of knocking, it was clear no one was coming. Shouri stepped back from the door, holding his wrist, his hand throbbing from how hard he had started knocking on the door in desperation. “Fuck…” He cursed, his breathing picking up.  
  
Then he had another idea.  
  
“SEVEN!”  
  
Blakki’s eyes widened. He was actually calling for that girl?  
  
“SEVEN GET OUT HERE! I KNOW YOU’RE WATCHING ME!”  
  
At this point several people who were home began poking their heads out of their own apartments wondering what the commotion was about. Shouri looked around in a panic, eyes wide. The enigmatic resonator was nowhere to be seen.  
  
He gritted his teeth hard. “Fuck fuck fuck…” He cursed.  
  
His resonator meanwhile, looked around. She picked up on all the people staring, pointing, and generally muttering to themselves. “Sh-sho, let’s get out of here, people are staring.” Taking the initiative, she grabbed her partner’s hand and dragged him away, the boy not offering any resistance.  
  
The pair walked down the steps hand in hand, the fox-girl listening to the boy’s panic-induced mutterings. She had to keep him level, otherwise he might end up where he was before. They got to the bottom of the steps when someone called out for them.  
  
“Shouri?”  
  


The pair looked up to see a familiar face: Amika’s best friend, Leofwine.  
  
“L-Leofwine.” Shouri muttered, barely cognizant enough to fully acknowledge the other boy.  
  
Said other boy raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing here? You live like five minutes from here.”  
  
“I-” Shouri didn’t really know what to say. Something happened to Amika. Even Leo knew that. Shouri figured that’s why he was here. But guilt was eating him up. As far as he was concerned, the fact that Amika was missing was entirely his fault.  
  
Blakki stepped in, trying to salvage the situation. She knew that Shouri didn’t want Leo involved, so she’d speak up in his place. “We’re visiting a friend, but they’re not home, so we’re going home.” She told Leo.  
  
The black haired boy looked at the resonator skeptically. He realized this was the same girl that was with Shouri before. He noted that she possessed decidedly vulpine features like that dog-eared boy he had encountered before; which immediately put him on edge.  
  
“I see. Well have fun.” He walked by the pair and up the steps. He stopped in the middle of the staircase. “I’m here to check on a friend of mine. She didn’t show up to class and her phone goes straight to voicemail.” He told the pair at the bottom of the steps.  
  
The fox-girl would watch her poor maestro turn three shades paler as the visible panic on his face intensified. After a moment of silence, he spoke up.  
  
“I-Is that so? Well good luck to you.” He managed to choke out hollowly. “C-Come on Blakki, let’s get home.” The boy practically squeaked.  
  
Leo glared as he watched the two walk away, almost looking down on them.  
  
\---  
  
Outside the complex now, poor Shouri wracked his brain trying to figure out what they could do next. Suddenly his left pocket began to vibrate. The sound of the default ringtone from his cellphone greeted the duo’s hearing.  
  
Desperately reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cell phone, praying that the caller ID would show Amika.  
  
 _Sonia Renoir  
(530)-124-0235_  
  
Shouri stared at the screen for a moment before sliding a finger across it to answer the call.  
  
“Hey Shouri?”  
“Y-yeah?”  
“Did you find Amika?”  
“No.”  
“Dang it. We went to the place where you said her GPS was last located, but there’s not a trace of her.”  
“Fuck.”  
“It’ll be okay Shouri. Let’s meet up at Sahji’s, maybe he’ll have some advice.”  
“Bad idea; I’m pretty sure he hates my guts.”  
“It’ll be fine. We have to find Amika.”  
“Alright, see you there then.”  
  
Dismissing the call, he pocketed his phone once more. Blakki frowned, having heard the whole conversation. “Come on. Let’s go to Sahji’s.” She held out a hand for her distraught partner. He merely nodded and accepted her hand.  
  
\---  
  
Sonia, Vinci, Shouri and Blakki all sat at a table in the café Sahji called home. The group of four had invaded the building and immediately demanded answers.  
  
“And? What do you want me to do about it?” Sahji asked, glaring at Sonia in particular. Shouri had just finished explaining why they were there.  
  
“Why are you looking at me? Shouri was the one who asked.” Sonia noted, unnerved by the glare she was receiving from the sage.  
  
He mulled that over and turned to Shouri. “So Amika has gone missing you said?”  
  
The male maestro nodded. “She had been texting me, but then it just cuts off. Plus, her phone has dropped off the grid as well.” He explained, clarifying why they needed the divine intervention at this point.  
  
“See my previous question: What do you want me to do about it?” The sage repeated.  
  
“I dunno, use your god powers or something to find her?” Blakki offered up.  
  
The sage grimaced and turned his glare on the fox-girl. “How many times do I have to tell you people: I. Am. Not. A. God.” He threw his arms up into the air. “I’m a sage, or maybe in more common terms, I am the personification of human desire.” He repeated. “Plus, even if I wanted to abuse all of my skills I can’t.”  
  
Shouri raised an eyebrow at that last comment. “You have a way to track Amika then?” He asked.  
  
“I would, if we were in the other world. But I’m not a native entity of this world. I wasn’t created by your god. My authority only goes as far as the space within this building and a little bit outside of it. I have no actual knowledge of your world outside of what you bring into here. In fact maintaining this space is an enormous feat in itself since your reality is constantly trying to crush this space.” He explained.  
  
While Shouri, Blakki, and Vinci were trying to wrap their heads around what was being told to them, Sonia had a different thought. “Wait, if this space isn’t supposed to exist in our world, how are we able to enter this building?”  
  
“Let me answer your question with a question: Who am I?”  
“Sahji?”  
“Not my name, what am I conceptually?”  
“A sage?”  
“Oooffff?”  
“Wishes?”  
  
Sahji snapped his finger and pointed at Sonia. “Bingo!” He smiled, glad that she got it. “Every one of you have had a wish in your soul every time you were able to enter this building, whether it was a wish for knowledge, or a safe haven, it was enough to allow you to see this space and enter it. Those who don’t have a wish for this space will not be able to perceive it.” He explained.  
  
Shouri’s eyes went wide, recalling when he and Seven tried to enter, but Seven kept telling him there was nothing there. At least he had an explanation for that now.  
  
“Anyways, because I don’t exist outside of this building, I cannot use my clairvoyance, much less help you physically track her down.” Sahji shrugged. “There is always an alternative though.”  
  
The four teens looked at each other, then to Sahji.  
  
From his robes, he pulled out his personal muse, the blade known as “The End of Desire.”  
  
“This muse has the power to reject fate. If your conviction is that strong, you can take this blade through your heart and Amika will be back, no problem. If you fail its test though, it’s just a regular sword.” He explained, bearing a wicked smirk.  
  
“What the hell?” Vinci gasped, not having been present for the first time the legendary muse had been explained to the group.  
  
Blakki thought she had nothing to worry about, given that Shouri rejected the blade the first time it was offered to him. However-  
  
“Sho!” She shouted, realizing he had taken the blade from Sahji’s hands. “What are you doing?!”  
  
The boy stared at his reflection on the polished surface of the weapon. He cradled the muse, one hand grasped firmly around the hilt, the other hand allowing the flat of the blade to rest on it. The cold steel radiated a strange aura from it. This thing was the real deal. It had an otherworldly presence.  
  
Blakki grabbed her partner’s shoulder. “Sho! What are you doing!?” She repeated, her voice growing in desperation.  
  
“It’s my fault, I should have went anyways. I could have at least kept an eye on her. I just…” The boy gulped; eyes fixated on the strange, foreign script engraved into the blade. It was slightly flawed, as if written by mortal hands and not lovingly crafted by the gods. An odd detail for sure.   
  
Blakki stared at her partner, mouth agape. He was blaming himself for this?  
  
She shook her head and grabbed his hands. “If you want to use that blade, you’re driving it through both of us. I’m not letting you do something that dangerous without me.”  
  
Shouri slowly raised his head, looking at his partner. She glared at him, eyes full of determination. For a moment, he swore her eyes were glowing. With a heavy sigh, he pulled the blade away from his partner and turned the hilt towards Sahji. “How many times has that little trick worked?”  
  
Sahji took his muse back. “Depends on your definition of “trick” Mr.Tomoshibi. This blade has granted wishes. Not many, but it definitely has granted a few. You should know.” He chuckled to himself, as he smiled at his personal muse. Returning the muse to its place within his robes, he looked to Shouri and Blakki. “At any rate, I see your conviction.”  
  
“Eh?” The group of four was confused.  
  
The sage reached up to his left earing and pulled it out. “This little piece of paper is known as a “Tanzaku” specifically in your “Japan” they have a festival where wishes are written on them and hung from a tree. These earrings are similar in concept. If a wish is strong enough within my presence, a clue on how to achieve that wish will appear on the paper.”  
  
He plucked the paper from the earring and handed it to Shouri and Blakki who stared at the small piece of paper.  
  
 _1  
  
M  
A  
I  
N  
  
_“What does it say?” Sonia asked.  
  
“One Main?” Blakki blinked, not understanding what the significance of this. Shouri frowned, pondering the meaning of this. Then it hit him. “Let’s go!” He shouted, standing up.  
  
“Eh?” Sonia stood up, but didn’t know why.  
  
“One Main Street! It’s the tallest building in town! She has to be there!” He hastily explained to the group, as he made it to the door. Blakki was right behind him, never questioning his decision in the first place.  
  
Sonia knew exactly where that was at. “Oh! Yeah!” She took for the door as well, with her own partner in tow. Shouri and Blakki were already out of the building when Sonia looked back. “Thanks Sahji!” She managed to get out before allowing the door to close behind them.  
  
The sage sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Really really?” He shook his head.  
  
CRACK!  
  
“Eh?” The sage whipped his head around. His crystal ball laid cracked in half on the table near the back of the building. He floated over and knelt on the floor next to the table. “A-an omen?” He asked himself uneasily.


	29. Chapter 29

The quartet of rhythm-privy teens arrived at the nauseatingly tall One Main Street. One wouldn’t expect such an unnecessarily large structure in a small isolated town like this one, however this building rivaled some of the tall sky scrapers that made up the skylines of major metropolitan areas. It was a strange blemish on an otherwise picturesque view of nature. Though one could argue that from within this building you could get a better view of nature than in any other building.  
  
They all took in the enormity of the skyline defining building that towered over them. However, they weren’t here to appreciate modern construction. They had a mission. And for that Shouri turned to his fellow maestro. “Sonia.”  
  
“Eh?”  
“Blakki and I are going in alone.”  
“What?! No! Being separated was what caused this problem in the first place!”  
  
He grabbed her shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. “No listen. If something happens to us you need to let me and Amika’s families know what happened.” He told her, not once flinching in his determination.  
  
She glared back at him with similarly strong determination, smacking his hands off of her shoulders. “No! I’m not doing this! You can’t just leave me behind like this! I thought we were friends!” She barked.  
  
They were getting a few stares from the business people that were loitering around the building. The drama club was undeterred by this and continued on.  
  
“Do you know what Artificial-Class resonators are capable of?” Shouri snapped back.  
  
“Well no but I-”  
“I’ve used one, I know everything Seven is capable of. I know what attacks to dodge and what they all do if Ryo sic’s her on us.”  
“That doesn’t mean you have to go in alone!”  
“That’s exactly what it means.”  
  
SMACK  
  
Sonia held her hand, having just whipped it across Shouri’s face. “You’re just a selfish jerk!” She barked, tears streaming down her face.  
  
Shouri sighed, rubbing his face. He turned to Blakki. “You want to take a whack at me too?” He asked with a small smile. She shook her head and rubbed his red cheek. “I’m a healer remember?” Blakki smiled back.  
  
She looked to Sonia. “We’re going alone.”  
  
“I hate both of you.” Sonia sniffled.  
  
Vinci sighed, patting the back of his maestro. The drama was really unneeded. Especially since all the yelling didn’t change anything. He looked to Shouri. “Be careful. Even if you know what they’re capable of doesn’t mean you should underestimate them.” He warned.  
  
The maestro nodded, acknowledging the advice. “That’s exactly why we’re not underestimating them.” He and Blakki turned to the building and looked up at the nauseating heights before them.  
  
Sonia watched the other pair inhale and exhale. She could have sworn she saw them start to breathe in unison. Even as they walked into the building, their bodies moved the same way, it was strange, but in a way, beautiful.  
  
\---  
  
The lobby of the One Main Street building was quite impressive. The white marble floors were sealed and polished to a shine. There was a large fountain in the center of the lobby with a statue of some kind of Asian dragon. There were several small couches and padded chairs littered about with more business people occupying them. The younger teenagers looked way out of place in their casual clothing. However, Shouri and Blakki were on a mission and would not be deterred by a small thing like dress code. The duo walked straight up to the front desk. They knew who they were looking for, however defying their expectations, the attendant spoke up first.  
  
“Are you Mr.Tomoshibi?” They asked.  
  
The wind was taken out of the teen’s sails instantly. “I-I am…” He replied quietly.  
  
The attendant nodded and looked down at a sticky note on their desk. “You’re a little early. You can wait in the conference room on the thirty-third floor. You’ll find an elevator to the right.” They pointed to one of the three elevators waiting in the lobby.  
  
Slightly unnerved, Shouri muttered a quick “Thank you” grabbed Blakki’s hand and pulled her into an open elevator. He didn’t release her hand even as the elevator door closed behind them. He pressed the button labeled “33” and the metal box began to ascend into the heavens.  
  
The pair stood in silence, only the sounds of the whirring mechanical pulleys breaking the deafening silence. Blakki gave her partner’s hand a reaffirming squeeze. A couple seconds later he returned the gesture, bringing a small smile to her face.  
  
A soft electronic beep signaled their arrival at the thirty third floor. They stepped out onto the floor. The sun was just starting its descent towards evening as shown through the windows.  
  
Looking around, they saw a teal colored plastic sign glued to the wall which said “Conference Room ->” in white plastic letters.  
  
Despite the time of day, there didn’t seem to be anyone around. So, the pair of teens just walked down the hallway, following the helpful plastic signs that adorned the walls at each intersection. Finally, they reached the end of one of the hallways, where they found an open door, a sign hung next to the door labeled “Conference Room 2A-33”  
  
The pair stepped into the room. Shouri released Blakki’s hand as soon as he caught sight of who was sitting on the edge of the table.  
  
“Ah, Shouri! I’ve been waiting for you!”  
  
Blakki stared at the girl who greeted her maestro so casually. The magenta haired artificial resonator, Seven. She hopped off the table and walked over to the boy. Smiling as she stood in front of Shouri, she looked over to Blakki. Upon meeting eyes, the two resonators shot each other dirty looks.  
  
“Seven, where is your tuner?” Shouri asked, ignoring both resonators and getting down to business. “It was missing when I woke up.”  
  
Seven immediately turned her attention back to the maestro in the room. “Ah, right here.” She snapped her fingers and the device appeared at the tip of her index finger. Gravity took over when it was fully formed and it fell into her palm. Then she presented it to Shouri.  
  
He accepted the device and after checking a couple of screens, pocketed it.  
  
“Where’s Amika?” Was his next question.  
  
Seven looked away, wearing a pained expression. “Daddy took her as part of his plan. A test if you will.” The resonator replied simply. She looked back to Shouri. “We still have a chance to save her, but we need to hurry, they’re on the Seventy-seventh floor.”  
  
Shouri nodded. “Right, let’s go.”  
  
Blakki gulped and bit her bottom lip, wearing a concerned look as she watched her maestro walk out of the room with the other resonator. She felt uneasy; was it the presence of this other resonator, or something else?  
  
The trio made their way back to the elevator. Seven pressed the button for the seventy-seventh floor and the elevator began to ascend. Blakki made sure to stand between Shouri and Seven, keeping a careful watch of the other resonator out of the corner of her eyes.  
  
The previously established elevator silence continued as the floor numbers in the digital display rose higher and higher, the weight of gravity on the trio as the elevator rapidly ascended to its destination. The digital display finally displayed “77” however the doors did not open as the elevator came to a stop and performed its own checks to ensure it was properly secured on the floor before opening.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte.”  
  
BANG THUD  
  
“Tch… H-how did you know…?”  
  
Blakki’s hand was outstretched as her and her maestro glared at the girl slumped over on the floor of the elevator. The door slid open. The image of Seven faded away revealing a blue haired girl. She glared at the pair with shining blue eyes. This girl held her side as it seemed to be fizzling out of reality.  
  
“Seven never called Ryo “Daddy”, simple as that.” Shouri shrugged.  
  
The mystery girl gritted her teeth. “I’m newer than her, but I made such a simple mistake…” She growled before vanishing.  
  
Shouri and Blakki walked onto the floor they were left on. It was dark besides the blue glow from various machines. It seemed the windows had all been totally blacked out, so even natural light couldn’t illuminate the room. The floor itself seemed a lot larger than this, but they were getting a limited view due to where they had entered from.   
  
CLAP CLAP CLAP  
  
The duo stood back to back, looking around in an attempt to find the source of the sudden clapping.  
  
“I suppose I should give you more credit than that. You did manage to wrap Vienna around your finger after all.” A sickeningly familiar voice spoke out of the darkness.  
  
“CMI135 – Infinite Railgun.”  
  
Shouri and Blakki hit the ground, just in time to see an electrified projectile sail over their heads. It flew straight into the elevator, exploding on impact with the back wall. It swayed a bit inside of its shaft from the impact. Enough of it was destabilized that it fell apart within the next few seconds, effectively trapping them on that floor. The crashing of the destroyed elevator echoed back up into the room, really cementing the seriousness of that shot.  
  
A girl with wavy blue hair stepped out of the shadows. Her hair was tied up with a green ribbon, which made her look a touch bit younger than her body’s frame suggested. Her yellow eyes spoke pure malice in the way that they observed the pair through their red-framed glasses.  
  
“Oi, you Shouri?” The girl asked. She definitely wasn’t the owner of the previous voice. They must have been the resonator that went with the maestro that called out the attack. The maestro in question would be Ryo Saitou. His voice was one that was practically burned into both Shouri and Blakki’s minds at this point.  
  
Addressing this newcomer that launched their attack at them, the first order of business was clear. “Who wants to know?” Shouri asked. As far as Seven had told him, she was the only artificial resonator that had been created successfully. However, thinking about it further, it didn’t seem too off that there would be more, meaning either Seven had lied to him, or she herself had been lied to. Either was likely at this point.  
  
A wicked, toothy grin came across the girl’s face. “Just wanted to attach a face to the name of the person that girl kept crying for. Shouri Shouri Shouri, god she just wouldn’t shut up.” The girl shook her head as if pitying the poor victim she was referring to.  
  
“Passo Silenzioso, Presto Staccato; Luce Lunare, Forte!” Shouri shouted.  
  
Blakki vanished, a ball of lunar energy appearing and flying at the enemy.  
  
“ABZ471 – Absolute Zero”  
  
For just a split second, the opposing resonator froze completely solid and the ball of rhythm just splashed harmlessly against the solid form.  
  
“Woah woah woah, you didn’t even let me introduce myself! I’m Whistler, and you’re gonna have a bad time.” She smirked, awaiting orders.  
  
“LVL136 – Fire Ceiling”  
  
Whistler smirked, conjuring up a slab of fire over Shouri’s head. Blakki appeared and tackled her maestro out of the way, narrowly avoiding the flames that splashed against the ground.  
  
“Are you okay Sho?!” Blakki asked, checking him over for any injuries. He was a bit shaken up, but kept his focus on the opposing resonator, who was remaining in the spot that she started in. “I’m fine, we need to keep up the pressure.”  
  
“Good idea!” Whistler shouted.  
  
“GST023 – Air Rake!”  
“Mente Offuscata, Forte!”  
  
Before she could raise her hand to launch her attack, Whistler suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head and ceased her attack. “What the hell! How-?!” She gritted her teeth, unable to focus on anything but the pain raging inside her skull.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
WHAM THUD  
  
Whistler was thrown off her feet and crashed into a nearby workstation. “Tch, lucky shot.”  
  
“SLR196 – Evaporated Radiance”  
  
As she made the motions for her own spell, Whistler couldn’t help but commentate on the choice. “Letting me actually heal? You’re too kind master.” It looked like little specks of light appeared in the air before they all began to converge on the opposing resonator.  
  
“What is that Sho?” Blakki asked, helping her maestro to his feet.  
  
“It’s a healing spell kind of. It uses evaporated rhythm to fake a heal. It’s not too terribly effective.” He replied, deciding how best to use their remaining rhythm.  
  
“GHK134 – Trench Pressure”  
  
Before Shouri could mouth another command Whistler managed to actually finish her attack and launched a high-pressure blast of water which enveloped both Shouri and Blakki and slammed them against the wall. The duo fell to the ground, unmoving.  
  
Whistler sighed. “Whew. About time. Turns out you just need to land one solid hit and they ain’t shit.” The artificial resonator spat off to the side as she walked over. “Well, what’s done is done. At least we won.” She smiled.  
  
It all happened in an instant. Blakki’s body vanished, and the next thing she knew, Whistler was flying through the air, her face feeling significantly more compressed. She hit the ground and slid a small distance.  
  
Whistler sat up holding her face. “You PUNCHED me!”  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
And then she was smacked by a ball of lunar energy. As Whistler was trying to recover from the assault, Blakki helped her maestro to his feet.  
  
Whistler got to her feet at this point as well, she moved her tongue around her mouth and spat a tooth into her hand. She glared at the calcified structure that was extracted by blunt force. The distinct taste of blood flooded her mouth to accompany the throbbing pain she felt in her face. She threw the tooth off to the side and glared daggers at the pair.  
  
“Alright. I’m about done with this. We’re doing it your way master.”  
“FLC700 – Teleport, Full Access”  
  
The resonator appeared behind Shouri and Blakki. She grabbed each of them by the hair on the backs of their heads.  
  
“Blakki-!”  
  
SLAM SLAM SLAM  
  
Several cathartic bashes against the wall later, and the pair were a lot less resistant. The now trio vanished again, and appeared in a cylindrical container near some of the heavy machinery in the room. Whistler released the pair and vanished again.  
  
“La Bella Vita, Moderato. La Bella Vita, Moderato, Tutti” Shouri groaned, barely cognizant of what was happening to them at the moment. Blakki executed to his commands and healed both of them. As the healing waves of rhythm washed over them, they both looked around. There was a white, bright light above them, and they were surrounded on all sides by clear glass. Underneath them was some strange looking grating.  
  
“What the fuck?” Shouri looked around. They were on a totally different part of the floor, near some unfamiliar looking machines and computers.  
  
click click click  
  
Finally, he approached them. The man in the suit, Ryo Saitou.  
  
“Ryo!” Shouri barked immediately rushing to the edge of the enclosure. He pounded his fists against the glass, but it held firm. Realizing the futility of this act, he stepped away from the glass, taking his place next to his partner.  
  
Despite being in a totally dark room, Ryo still sported his signature sunglasses. “I don’t recall being on a first name basis, Mr.Tomoshibi.” The man replied coldly. Even with the sunglasses, one could easily get the sense that he was looking down on Shouri and Blakki.   
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
The attack just splashed against the glass and totally dissipated.  
  
“Vatonium, it’s an other worldly material that absorbs and channels rhythm and rhythm based attacks like copper does electricity. It’s a nice cage for unruly animals.” They witnessed a smirk slowly rise on the man’s normally scowl ridden face, and honestly, that in itself was pretty horrifying.  
  
click click click  
  
He walked over to the machine and finally flicked the cap off of the flash drive he normally cradled, allowing the plastic top to fly off into the distance seemingly absorbed by the darkness of the room. He inserted the key into the USB port on one of the computer terminals. All the screens began to run various bits of code as command prompts rapidly opened and closed on the many screens surrounding the tube.  
  
Machinery began to hum to life above and below the duo. Blakki immediately grabbed her partner’s hand, he took it one step further and pulled her into a hug. Something horrible was about to happen, they both knew it.  
  
“What are you doing Ryo?!” The maestro barked. “You’ll never get away with this!”  
  
Ryo shook his head as he walked back over to the tube. “I could kill you, but that’s too messy and it goes against my moral compass.” He replied nearly robotically, despite what he was saying.  
  
“Your moral compass? I doubt you have one!” Shouri sneered at the man. The humming began to get louder as the trapped pair noticed a current of air began to flow into the tube.  
  
The man in the suit simply watched, not being goaded into retorting by a mere child.  
  
“Sho what’s happening?!” Blakki cried out, holding her maestro tighter as the wind whipping around them slowly began to intensify.  
  
“Ryo!” Shouri barked at the man.  
  
He raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses. “There’s nothing to explain. I’m just disposing of some trash.” And with that he began to walk away. At this point the noise the machinery was making was deafening. The wind reached a point where it picked Shouri and Blakki up from the ground. They held onto each other for dear life.  
  
“Blakki don’t let go!” Shouri managed to get out over the noise.  
“Non lo farei mai, Sho!” She shouted back.  
  
The light at the top grew brighter and bright, eventually overtaking the pair. And just as it had reached its brightest peak…  
  
…everything went black.


	30. Chapter 30

_“Ggaaaah...”  
“You DARE strike MY son? You filthy piece of trash!”  
  
SLAM  
  
“ACCCK!”  
  
THUD  
  
“I won't kill you. But I won't have you in my house anymore.”_  
  
Blakki awoke with a start. She held her neck tightly as she seemingly struggled to regain her breath. Her eyes were wide, staring down blankly. Slowly she began to piece together her current surroundings. Shouri was next to her, so her primary concern was already dealt with.  
  
The room they were in was totally unfamiliar to her. They were laying on a decently sized bed, a thin blanket had covered them both to their mid-chest or so before Blakki had sat up. The walls floor and ceiling were entirely made of wood. It was a bit on the warm side, but not overly so. Where ever they were was humid, not like the town they had come from. Blakki’s ears twitched. There was a strange sound coming from outside.  
  
After a moment, she realized it was the sounds of waves crashing against a shoreline. That also explained the smell. The distinct smell of seawater.  
  
Wait…  
  
The smell of seawater was coming off of her? Her ears folded back as she wracked her brain trying to figure out where they were.  
  
She did not recognize their situation and how no idea how they even had gotten there in the first place. The next order of business was waking her maestro. She reached over and gently shook him. “Sho?” There was a hint of fear in her voice. Her fears subsided as the boy stirred, then opened his eyes.  
  
“Blakki?” He sat up, taking in the surroundings in a similar manner. “Where the hell are we?” He asked realizing he had no clue where they were presently.  
  
“Non so. I remember fighting Ryo then everything got really bright, and finally waking up here.” Blakki frowned, folding her arms across her chest.  
  
Shouri frowned as well. “Well, one way to find out.” He pulled out his phone and unlocked it. “Fuck.” He cursed immediately.  
  
“Cos'è quello?” Blakki tilted her head.  
  
He flashed the phone over which showed a lovely “No Service” under the clock. “We’re probably in the middle of fucking nowhere.” Taking the initiative, the boy hopped out of bed and walked over to one of the open windows. The boy looked up into the sky, then back down at his phone. “The fuck?”  
  
Blakki got out of the bed they had woke up in and walked over to her maestro. She looked outside as well. The beach was pretty small, but other than that the only thing that she could make out from their position in front of the window was that they were surrounded by deep blue ocean. It just went on and on as far as the eye could see.  
  
“Based on where the sun is, it should be roughly noon time or so.” Shouri noted out loud. His frown intensified as he glanced down at his phone.  
  
 _11:30PM  
No Service  
  
_Blakki frowned as well. “Is the phone broken?” She asked, looking at her maestro. He shook his head. “No, the clocks stay pretty accurate thanks to the satellites they connect to. What this means is we were out for eight hours, and Ryo sent us to the other side of the world.” He told his resonator.  
  
The fox girl began to fret. “H-how are we supposed to get back?” She asked. They were now a great distance away from their original objective, and what was worse, their friends and family were now completely without their protection.  
  
“Oh, yer finally up.”  
  
The pair whipped around. Shouri grabbing his tuner from his side. The owner of the voice was an older man. He looked to be in his sixties or so based on his hair, but seemed to be in pretty impressive shape despite his age.  
  
“You suddenly splashed into the water, but I didn’t see any boats or anything around, so I was confused when I fished you two up.” The old man explained to the pair. “The name’s Tom, Tommaso Aniello. I’m a retired fisherman. Who might you be?”  
  
Shouri mulled over the best course of action. The guy spoke English. So at least they probably ended up in some kind of American territory or he was just a native English speaker. Either way, getting more information was key. “Shouri Tomoshibi.”  
  
Blakki followed her maestro’s lead. “Blakki.”  
  
The retiree pointed to Blakki. “She yer resonator?” He asked.  
  
Both teen’s eyes went wide. “H-how do you know that?!” They both asked in shock. They hadn’t ever met a random person that just knew what a resonator was.  
  
The old man raised an eyebrow, now being the confused one. “Well, she’s a demi-human, and you boy are holdin’ a tuner. Kinda obvious really.” He told the pair, as if it was obvious. “Though, it’s pretty rare to see a Lunar with a maestro.”  
  
The two teens exchanged confused expressions, remaining silent for a moment while they both tried to process what was going on.  
  
“Wait!” Shouri came to a realization. “Mr. Aniello, where are we?”  
  
Tom nodded. “We’re just off the coast of Riva Solare, in Libertera.”  
  
\---  
  
Shouri and Blakki stared at a map. The boy shook his head in disbelief at what he was looking at. It was similar in a lot of respects to world maps he remembered from school. However, there were tons of minor differences in the large landmasses. Smaller islands were missing or in totally different places.  
  
The other thing that stood out was the labeling. Where North America was supposed to be there was a similarly shaped landmass named “Libertera” and was separated from South America, which was now labeled “Selvica”. Central America just plain didn’t exist and a large strait separated the two continents. The remaining five continents were distinctly separated from each other by bodies of water, and all had different names, but were roughly in the same spots.  
  
Shouri stepped back from the map. “Motherfucker…” He cursed. Everything added up. It was so obvious now.  
  
“Sho?” The lunar resonator stared at her maestro in concern.  
  
“Ryo Saitou sent us to another world.” Shouri revealed grimly. Blakki stared blankly at her maestro, processing what he just said.  
  
She looked up at the map that hung on the wall. It looked well worn, there were even some splotches on it where it looked like water had been splashed on it long ago. It was worn in such a way that could only come with age. Meaning this map was the genuine article that someone had used; by Tom, most likely.  
  
Then another thing clicked in her head. “W-wait, Sho. This has to be my world then! That's the only way...” She looked down. That was the only explanation. The old man recognized not only that they were a maestro and resonator, but also recognized Blakki’s element as well. None of those were things someone could just pull out of thin air.  
  
Shouri nodded, agreeing with that. But that raised a new question. “You still remember everything right Blakki?” He looked at his resonator.  
  
“Yeah. I woke up and fled from the guys shooting at me. You rescued me and then I lived with you and your sister, Aura.” She recalled her entire time with Shouri flawlessly. Which bothered her greatly. “Sahji said I’d forget everything if I ever came back here.”  
  
The maestro scoffed at that. “Well that fucking sage didn’t tell me that button would kill you, maybe he lied to us about it. After all he totes a suicide sword for shits and giggles.” He rolled his eyes so hard he felt like they may have popped out of his head if he rolled them any harder.  
  
Tom spoke up at this point. “Hold up kids.” The duo looked to the old man. “Didjya say Sahji? As in the Wish Sage Sahji?”  
  
“Yeah, what about him?” Shouri asked.  
  
The old man processed his own thoughts before speaking again. “You two are talkin’ like ya met ‘im.”  
  
“Yeah. He tried to get me to stab myself with his dumb sword twice. Nice guy.” Shouri told Tom.  
  
He nodded. “I’ve been letting you two talk amongst yerselves cause I felt it would be rude to pry, but I'm thinkin' I need to hear yer story now.”  
  
Blakki and Shouri looked at each other, shrugged and began to recount their adventures thus far. The only things they could really use to corroborate their story were Shouri’s cell phone (which thankfully had some pictures stored on it) and his state-issued ID which wasn’t like any of the ID’s that Tom had ever seen.  
  
The old man nodded. They had since moved to his dining room to recount the full story. “Alright, I believe ya's.” He said simply once they finished their telling.  
  
Shouri blinked, surprised. “You do?” He asked, tempting fate.  
  
“Mhm, it sounds like one of them old wives’ tales from when I was a kid. “If ya don’t treat yer resonator right, they’ll leave ya for yer shadow.” They were probably talkin’ about yer world.” Tom explained to the pair. He shrugged. “Tho’ that was only in the less well-off towns. Them city kids were never too kind to their resonators; still aren’t as far as I know. ‘s why I live out here. Less of them types to rub elbows with.”  
  
The pair digested this info for a moment. “What are we going to do Sho? How are we going to get home?” She asked. Shouri looked over at Blakki.  
  
“You’re not curious?” He asked.  
  
“Curious about what?”  
“Here. This world. You were born here.”  
“And? I don’t have any memories of this place. My home is with you, Sho.”  
  
Shouri sat in the wooden chair he was provided, mouth agape. Blakki just smiled sweetly at her maestro.  
  
“Close yer jaw son, you’ll catch flies.” The old man chimed in. Shouri turned his attention to Tom, who was getting up from his chair. He walked over to a cabinet and opened it up. He pulled out a small satchel and opened it up. After confirming the contents, he looked to Shouri. “Catch.” He tossed it to the boy, who barely managed to catch it.  
  
Shouri went ahead and opened it. There was a small bundle of foreign looking money, held together by a clip.  
  
“What’s this?” The maestro asked as Blakki took a peek into the small bag.  
  
“You got money in that other world right?”  
“Well yeah but-“  
“I doubt yer money works here. Yer gonna need some cash to get around.”  
“Wait, why are you giving this to us?”  
  
Tom laughed. “It’s been a really long time since I’ve seen a resonator so attached to their maestro, especially a Lunar. The news nowadays is so grim. It’s refreshin’ to just see a couple a kids just bein’ kids.”  
  
The way Tom spoke reminded him of a few things Sahji had said.  
  
 _“Let’s just say it’s a cultural difference between our worlds.”_  
 _“Only bad maestros kill their resonators with that button. I thought I could trust you people on this side.”_  
  
Coupled with what this old man just told them, Shouri now had a lovely picture of what life had to be like in this world, especially for resonators.   
  
\-----  
  
Blakki stepped out of the small house that they were currently staying at. As it turned out, they were on a small island off the mainland. Upon second observation of Mr. Aniello’s map, he had their current location marked with a small pin, confirming this fact. It was definitely too far to swim, and the option for taking a boat the following day was offered to them, so they figured they would take their host up on his offer of hospitality.   
  
For the differences in map though, the world was pretty similar in a lot of respects to their own world. Society was fairly similar and nearly all of the amenities that they took for granted in their world were still present in this one (thankfully).   
  
Shouri sat on the beach, hugging his knees and watching the waves roll in. Blakki spotted her maestro and walked over. “Mind if I sit here?”   
  
The maestro looked up at his partner. Her hands were behind her back, as she leaned slightly over him. Her tail swayed gently with the sea breeze. The moon was full tonight and provided them plenty of light and illuminated the girl’s figure for him.   
  
“Sure.” He replied quietly, looking back out to the ever-moving ocean.   
  
Taking a seat next to him, the pair was content to watch the waves roll in and out in relative silence.   
  
“Bellissimo…”   
  
Looking over, Shouri saw his partner staring at the moon, as she did. Her eyes seemed to sparkle in the reflected moonlight.   
  
“Beautiful?” He asked.   
“Si!” She nodded, turning her attention to him.   
He smiled. “I’m slowly getting used to all this Italian, since you insist on using it.”   
The girl giggled. “It just kinda slips out. I don’t really realize I’m switching languages unless someone points it out.” She explained.   
“Ah.” 

  
They returned to silently watching the waves roll in and the moon rise. Blakki stole a glance at Shouri. He was still hugging his knees close to his chest. His forlorn gaze told her all she needed to know: he was hurting. Over the past couple of months, she had gotten used to his mannerisms and the way he carried himself.   
  
The fox-girl scooted closer to the boy and then leaned on him. “Eh?” He looked over in surprise.   
  
“I just want you to know I’m here with you.” She spoke softly, closing her eyes as she rested on his shoulder. After a moment of staring at her, Shouri suddenly got up. Before Blakki could protest, she saw his hand extended out to her. The pair locked eyes for a moment as Blakki held herself up with one arm. The breeze blew over them, providing a refreshing chill. Without another word spoken, she grabbed his hand and he pulled her to her feet.   
  
However, he didn’t release her hand and instead began wordlessly walking towards the house. They made their way to the room their host had so graciously provided to them, only releasing hands when they were in the privacy of the bedroom. Blakki just stood there as Shouri kicked off his shoes and removed his jacket. Following suit, the fox-girl removed her own jacket and shoes. By the time she had folded up her precious clothing and set it on the night stand, Shouri was already laying down.   
  
She herself climbed into bed, but before she could adjust herself, Shouri reached out for her. “Sho?” She asked.   
  
He didn’t speak, he just got closer, and then wrapped his arms around her as they had done the previous night. The girl’s face turned entirely red. She wasn’t used to him initiating like that. He held her tightly. “Please don’t leave me.” He whimpered.   
  
“Sho… I would never think of it.”   
“I’m so scared”   
  
Blakki’s expression softened, her mouth slightly agape from what he just admitted to her. He tried to avoid talking about his feelings. Not because of any perceived weakness or machismo, Blakki knew he wasn’t like that. No, he didn’t want to burden people with his feelings. That much she knew about him.   
  
“Me too Sho.” She admitted, hugging him back. “But I’m with you, so I know we’ll get through this together.”   
She heard him sniffle and sob softly. “I don’t deserve you.” He whispered, his voice cracking with emotion.   
Blakki pondered how to respond to that. She quickly dismissed that and just instinctively responded. “You’re my best friend Sho.”   
  
“You’re my best friend Blakki.” He replied with no hesitation. Blakki stared blankly at the nearby wall on the count of being in their tight embrace. Her expression slowly sank into a warm smile as tears started to stream down her own face.


	31. Chapter 31

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
A pair of fox ears twitched as the noise reached them. “Up and at ‘em kids!” Their host’s voice boomed from the other side of the door.  
  
Blakki slowly opened her eyes. She couldn’t help but smile contentedly at Shouri who was still holding onto her. They’d be alright, she just needed to have hope. At least that’s how she felt at the present time.  
  
Shouri, however was a notoriously light sleeper and was already awake. So, it didn’t take long before he released his partner and sat up.  
  
“How’d you sleep?” He asked.  
  
“Bene! You?”  
“Eh, alright, I guess.”  
  
The pair got up, made the bed and gathered their meager amount of possessions before parting ways with the room they had stayed in.  
  
Mr. Aniello made the pair breakfast, and before they knew it, the trio was on a boat heading towards the mainland. The vessel of choice was a small speedboat which skimmed over the waves as it rushed towards shore.  
  
“By the way, I called my granddaughter on the phone last night. She’s gonna meet up with you kids and show you around!” The fisherman shouted over the rushing wind and motor.  
  
“Oh, you didn’t have to do that for us!” Shouri replied.  
  
Tom shook his head. “Nonsense! Ya’ll have never been to Libertera before. Don’t want to worry about some lost kids steppin’ on some toes and endin’ up dead! Wouldn’t be able to sleep at night! Don’t worry she’s a good kid!”  
  
Blakki and Shouri exchanged a glance. The fox girl shrugged. Shouri frowned and rolled his eyes, but would go along with it.  
  
The trip was short given the distance they had to cover; the journey only took about ten minutes total to make it to the piers. The captain of the fine vessel killed the engine as they drew closer to the docks, allowing the boat to coast up to shore with the waves.  
  
The sea-faring old man tied the boat up to one of the wooden pillars that made up the docks they arrived at, and hopped from the boat. He helped Shouri and Blakki each off of their transport and began to lead them off of the dock. Before they even reached the end of the dock however, they noticed a girl walking by, her attention on a tuner she held.  
  
Her long red hair was done in a twin tail style, seemingly well-kept and straight. She wore a black shirt with a white bow on the collar with a red spaghetti-strap styled shirt over that which had four white buttons on it. A red skirt which matched her over-shirt and had black skin-tight leggings completed her attire.  
  
“Oi! Colette!” Tom shouted suddenly.  
  
The girl looked up and waved. “Grandpa Tom!” The pair rushed to each other and the older man hugged his granddaughter. Shouri and Blakki followed slowly to allow the two family members their privacy.  
  
“Sorry to call you so late last night.”  
“No problem at all gramps!”  
“Where’s little Becky?”  
“She’s by the car.”  
  
She looked around Tom and noticed the pair standing behind him. “Are those two-?”  
  
“Yeah, that’s them. They got quite the tale to tell, but they’re good kids.” The old man laughed heartily.  
  
Calculating blue eyes looked over the pair. Colette’s first impression of them was: “Kinda plain.” She muttered. However, one thing did stand out, and that was the Lunar resonator that was kept in the maestro’s company. A rare treat indeed.  
  
“Don’t you worry gramps. I’ll take care of them.” Colette nodded. The older man ruffled his granddaughter’s hair. “I knew they would be in good hands with you.” He turned to Shouri and Blakki.  
  
“Alright, I’ve done what I could. You two stay out of trouble.” He told them, already acting as if he was their grandfather.  
  
Shouri nodded. “That’s the plan.”  
  
“Grazie mille! We really appreciate everything you’ve done for us!” Blakki smiled brightly.  
  
Colette raised an eyebrow, folding her arms across her chest as she watched her grandfather depart. When they were finally alone, she spoke up.  
  
“So, my grandfather never introduced you two. Who are you?” She asked.  
  
“Shouri Tomoshibi.”  
“I’m Blakki, his partner.”  
  
The woman nodded, looking the pair over once again. “My name is Colette Severine. I’m a Rhythm Studies major at Riva Solare University.” She extended a hand for Shouri. He accepted it, and immediately felt a shock between their hands. He whipped his hand away reflexively.  
  
The other maestro smirked. “Sorry, was feeling out your rhythm.”  
  
Shouri raised an eyebrow. “You can do that?” He asked cautiously.  
  
Colette nodded. “With the right training.”  
  
The teen maestro was a bit suspicious of that claim, but he didn’t know enough about rhythm to refute her point. Instead he wanted to know a bit more. “So what did you “feel out”?” He asked.  
  
“You’re definitely an odd one, that’s for sure.” The red-head replied simply. “Follow me please, my resonator is waiting for us by the car.”  
  
“Oh good, they have those here.” Shouri commented.  
  
Colette stropped mid-step. “Oh yeah.” She turned to the other maestro and resonator. “Grandpa Tom said something about you claiming to be from another world. Is that right?”  
  
The pair nodded in unison. “Yeah.” They spoke in nearly perfect unison. That oddity was not lost on Colette, as she committed it to memory. However, it seemed to fade away as Shouri began talking further.  
  
“Some nut-job in our world hates rhythm and sent us here. I’ll tell you more about it later. It’s a long story.” He told their new guide.  
  
The rhythm-major nodded uneasily and turned back around. “Right, this way.” She led the pair through a small park and to a parking lot where another girl was leaning up against a black car.  
  
This girl was obviously the resonator to Colette’s maestro. Like Blakki, she was also a fox demi-human. The similarities ended there however; unlike the lunar resonator, her hair and fur color was a mixture of yellow, red, and orange. Even her eyes were a deep red hue.  
  
Her bangs were a distinct yellow which faded into red which went down to her mid back.. She wore a school uniform: an orange dress jacket with white trimming, and complementing tie. The jacket was left open left open showing off the yellow dress shirt underneath. She had a knee-length skirt and tennis shoes which matched her jacket and tie in coloration.  
  
“Sorry for the wait Rebecca.” Colette greeted her partner who pushed herself off the car. She took her time and looked the two guests over. The resonator frowned. “Aw, they’re not what I imagined aliens to look like at all.”  
  
“My bad. Forgot my green skin at home.” Shouri replied sarcastically.  
  
“This is Shouri and Blakki.” Colette introduced the pair to her own resonator. “And this is my partner Rebecca, she’s a Fire-Null resonator.”  
  
“Charmed.” The fire resonator curtsied.  
  
“Nice to meet you.” Shouri replied flatly.  
“Piacere di conoscerti.” Blakki repeated, but in Italian.  
  
Rebecca raised an eyebrow, but didn’t make a comment. She pulled a pair of keys from her coat pocket and spun them around her finger. “Shall we get moving?”  
  
\---  
  
With Colette in the front passenger seat and the other pair in the back, Rebecca drove off. Colette flipped down the sun visor and tilted it to look back at Shouri and Blakki.  
  
“So, you two say you’re from another world?” Colette asked.  
  
“You guys got drivers licenses here right?” Shouri asked in response.  
  
“We do.”  
“Here’s mine.”  
  
He passed up a card that was similar to Colette’s own driver’s license. Though it was structured differently, all the basic info about Shouri was there including a mugshot of him from two years prior. There was one thing that really stood out though:  
  
“California? Where is that at?”  
“It’s our world’s version of Riva Solare, to put it simply.”  
  
Colette frowned. She tilted the license back and forth, seeing a different holographic anti-counterfeiting coating than her own. It wouldn’t be too terribly easy to fake all the details like this. The way it was worn also showed the age of the card. She passed the card back to its owner and decided on her next question.  
  
“And how exactly did you end up here?”  
  
For the second time in two days, Shouri and Blakki recounted their journey together thus far. Not omitting any details for sake of simplicity. Colette and Rebecca remained quiet while the other pair told their tale.  
  
“Wait, you guys actually not only met with Sahji, but he even supplied you with your tuner as well?” Rebecca asked.  
  
“Forget that, I wanna know more about those artificial resonators. I can’t believe a world that doesn’t have naturally occurring rhythm users were able to _make_ resonators.” Colette chimed in.  
  
“I’d rather not talk about that sage and his damn suicide sword.” Shouri grumbled. “The artificial resonators behave like regular resonators. I used an empty tuner with one and commanded her like I do Blakki. There was no real difference except all the spells had like a code number and then its name in English.”  
  
Colette nodded as Shouri spoke, but then sighed dejectedly once he finished his explanation. “That’s fascinating. But I doubt any of my professors would accept a thesis paper on something like that.” She pouted.  
  
“Oh, I never asked. Do you guys have scherzando here too?” Blakki chimed in.  
  
Rebecca and Colette remained quiet. “Yeah. I guess you could say that.”   
  
“I’m sure your world has its fair share of problems, but the scherzando epidemic has gotten so bad here that a lot of people are starting to say it’s going to reach crisis levels by 2050 unless we do something about our rhythm usage.” The fire resonator explained to the other-worlders.  
  
Shouri and Blakki digested that information before the maestro of the pair responded. “That’s about what Sahji told us.” He decided on.  
  
At this point, the scenery had changed from a beach-front urban sprawl to a school campus.  
  
“So, where have you taken us?” Shouri asked, narrowing his eyes.  
  
“Back to uni of course.” Colette replied, as if that should have been obvious.  
  
That seemed a bit dubious to Shouri, however he didn’t exactly know what their plan was at the current moment, so laying low and figuring out how this world worked would probably be their course of action.  
  
After circling the parking lot, Rebecca finally found a place to park the car and the group disembarked from the vehicle. Colette began going on about the history of the school as if she was trying to sell the foreigners on attending.  
  
Shouri and Blakki had tuned her out at this point and were just looking around in awe. There were many different kinds of maestros and resonators walking around. There were demi-humans of many different breeds. Cat and dog based demi-humans seemed to be the most common. They saw a few winged people, and even one or two with reptile like tails.  
  
Conversely however, Shouri began to notice something. There were select people among the student body that were giving them strange looks. It was an odd mixture of apprehension, concern, and even hate. Nobody said anything to them either. They just stared. Shouri almost wished they would speak up so he could know what the hell the deal was.  
  
Being so focused on everyone else, the pair of other worlders didn’t notice Colette had slowed her explanation either. The native maestro looked to her own resonator with concern, as she frowned in disapproval.  
  
It seemed Blakki caught on as well as she grew increasingly uncomfortable with the situation and grabbed her maestro’s arm. Why were they starting like that? She didn’t get looks like that back home, even being one of the very few demi-humans in that world.  
  
“This way.” Colette turned suddenly, changing the direction they were going. Shouri and Blakki silently followed their guide.  
  
\---  
  
The quartet arrived at an empty classroom. Shouri recognized it as a typical college classroom, enough seats for hundreds of students, a desk in the center and a general shape that gave it good acoustics. It seemed that some things just worked, no matter what world you were in.  
  
Down at the teacher’s desk in the center of the room sat an older man, with long black hair, kept in a ponytail. He wore a white dress shirt and red tie. He stared at some paperwork through his rectangle framed glasses.   
  
“Professor Iscariot!” Colette called out, walking down the stairs ahead of the group. The man looked up, adjusting his glasses slightly at his approaching student. “Miss Severine. Class isn’t until this afternoon. What do I owe the visit?” He asked.  
  
“Last night my grandfather called me with some interesting news.” She told her teacher as she reached the floor of the classroom.  
  
The professor raised an eyebrow. “Interesting news?” He looked up and noted Rebecca, and two strangers that he did not recognize.  
  
Colette inhaled deeply and then began talking. “I know this is going to sound really crazy, but these two people say they came from a different world. I didn’t really believe it at first, but I really think you should feel the maestro’s rhythm and listen to their story.”  
  
Professor Iscariot looked over the two misplaced teens. “A lunar? That’s rare.” He commented. Walking up to Shouri, he extended his hand. “My name is Sidney Iscariot, I’m the Rhythm studies professor here.”  
  
Shouri stared at the outstretched hand for a moment before accepting the handshake. He felt another shock just like with Colette. Was this going to be a recurring thing in this world?  
  
The professor seemed taken aback as he released the boy’s hand. “That _is_ interesting. Strong Knowledge, Weak Will.” He mused. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”  
  
“Shouri, Shouri Tomoshibi.” The maestro replied quietly.  
  
The older man turned to Blakki, and offered the same handshake. Hesitantly, Blakki took his hand. “BlakkiiiEEP!” She yanked her hand away, surprised at the sudden shock.  
  
“My apologies, I should have warned you.” Professor Iscariot said simply. “They’re a duet like you two.” He told his actual students.  
  
Colette looked to Blakki. “She’s Strong Will, Weak Knowledge?” The girl pondered that thought for a moment. “That’s why they mesh so well together.”  
  
The professor leaned back against his desk. “So Mr. Tomoshibi, please, tell me about yourself.” Shouri looked to his partner, who nodded. They both knew exactly what to do.  
  
Now for the third time they re-explained who they were and where they had come from. The duo felt pretty rehearsed at this point, but silently hoped this would be the last time they’d have to go through their life story for random strangers.  
  
“Artificial resonators? I would love to meet one, I have so many questions.” Professor Iscariot mused aloud. This earned a laugh from Rebecca. “Both you and Colette it seems.”  
  
The black-haired man straightened his glasses as his expression turned more serious. “Unfortunately, I know of no way to traverse worlds as the people in your world apparently do.” He stated. “I believe you may want to speak with Rose.”  
  
“Uuuurgh…” This suggestion earned expressions of disdain from Shouri and Blakki. This meant explaining their situation for a fourth time.  
  
Colette frowned, folding her arms across her chest. “Why Rose, Professor?”  
  
“If their tale is to be believed at face-value, they received their tuners from Sahji himself. They must have special properties that only she would be able to discern.” He explained. “Your rhythm is definitely unique though. I have taught rhythm studies for fifteen years now, and I have never felt anything quite like it.” He paused, closing his eyes and leaning back further on his desk. “It’s almost as if your rhythm was pulling towards each other. It was a strange feeling.”  
  
With a sigh, Shouri decided to ask the pressing question. “So where do we find this Rose person?”  
  
“That’s the tricky part. Despite her status, she’s a bit of a recluse. You’ll find her in the Canto All’acqua Desert about four hours to the west.”  
  
Shouri rolled his eyes. “Oh boy, I can’t wait.”  
  
“Ms. Severine, how about you take them there?”  
“M-me?!”  
“Sure, I’ll excuse your absence. This is a wonderful chance for you to observe a rhythm user from another world. There probably won’t be another chance like this.  
  
The girl mulled that over, humming and tilting her head back and forth as she weighed out her options. “I can’t exactly say that you’re wrong about that Professor.”  
  
The Professor nodded with a smile. “Excellent! I’m sure our guests will appreciate an airconditioned ride as well.”  
  
“We’ll get going tomorrow then.” Colette told the other pair.  
  
“That sounds fine by me, not like we have much else to do.” Shouri replied.  
  
“In the meantime, wanna go to the gym? I’m sure you probably want to let off some steam.” Rebecca suggested.  
  
Shouri contemplated that thought for a moment before speaking up. “Sure. I could use something familiar right now. What do you think Blakki?”  
  
The fox-girl laughed nervously. “Si! I think a little exercise would be good.”  
  
Rebecca nodded. “Perfect, let’s go Colette.”  
  
As the quartet left, Professor Iscariot smirked to himself. “My my my, it has been far too long.” He chuckled quietly.


	32. Chapter 32

The two pairs made their way around the campus to the gym. The large, open building however, wasn’t the type of gym that Shouri was expecting.  
  
No, this was more like a firing range. There were several pairs of maestros and resonators that were practicing their spells and combat techniques.  
  
“Oh, this was not what I was expecting.” Shouri noted.  
  
“Yeah, many students here work part time with various companies that help fight the scherzando problem.” Rebecca explained. “We gotta stay sharp somewhere.” The fire-fox winked.  
  
Colette led the group to a row away from most of the other students. Nobody really paid the group any mind, staying focused on their spells and execution of said spells.  
  
“You want to take a shot?” Colette asked.  
  
“Ehhh…” Shouri looked to his tuner. All forte spells, but he was used to having Blakki fight in open areas where they could minimize collateral damage.  
  
The native noticed the unease, and nodded. “Don’t worry, pretty much everything in this building is coated in this stuff called “Vatonium” which can absorb rhythm pretty well.” She explained.  
  
“Oh, so Ryo didn’t invent that shit, he stole it. Glad to know that.” Shouri scoffed, learning something new. He looked to his resonator. “You wanna try it?”  
  
She nodded. “Yeah. Something familiar would be nice.”  
  
The pair took their place in front of the firing line. “Luce Lunare, Forte!” Shouri began with their big guns. Blakki formed a decent sized ball of purplish-black lunar energy and easily tossed it at the target at the end of the range, totally demolishing it.  
  
Rebecca and Colette were stunned. The maestro of the pair quickly tried to hide it, but the resonator allowed the shock to remain on her face.  
  
“Y-you have Forte spells?” Colette finally mustered up the courage to ask.  
  
Shouri raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? I thought that would be common here. I know a chick back home that flings around Fortissimos like they’re going out of style.” He replied.  
  
The other maestro shook her head. “There are a few juniors here that can do that, and most of the seniors can, but for people around our age that’s nearly unheard of. And most of us have had our resonators for years.”  
  
“Also, the fact that Blakki is a healer.” Rebecca pointed out.  
  
“Wait what? I missed that.” Colette turned to her own resonator.  
  
The fire resonator nodded. “Sure.” She turned to Shouri.  
  
“You know about attributes, right?”  
“Kinda. I know your spells look different depending on that.”  
  
“It’s a step further. You have the triangle of Slashing, Piercing, and Crushing.” Colette chimed in before letting her resonator take back over.  
  
“Slashing beats Piercing;  
Piercing beats Crushing;  
Crushing beats Slashing.”  
  
Shouri and Blakki nodded taking this in.  
  
“But as you know, there are other attributes, Healing, Shielding, and Null. While what the primary three are obvious how their attacks are shaped, the secondary trio are a bit different. Healing attacks by balling up the energy and allowing it to be thrown. Shielding turns it into a wave that sweeps across the ground towards its target, and null just blasts the energy out like a hose or flamethrower.” Rebecca explained. She paused to allow Colette to chime in.  
  
“The secondary attributes don’t have any weaknesses, but they’re also not strong against other attributes, so you have to completely rely on the elemental effects of your spells.”  
  
Shouri rolled his eyes and huffed in annoyance. “Man, I wish that fucking sage told me all that. He just expected us to survive while figuring all this shit out on the fly.”  
  
Colette lit up upon realizing that she could explain more stuff. “What about modifiers? Which ones do-”  
  
“HEY!” A gruff male voice shouted. The quartet turned to see a rather buff looking man walking up to the group. Behind him was a resonator, a similarly buff demi-human with light brown canine ears and a thin tail. Probably some kind of dog-breed like Vinci.  
  
“What?” Colette asked, glaring daggers at the newcomer.  
  
The musclebound maestro looked over the group, standing at least head over even the tallest member of their group. “Couldn’t help but notice you brought some trash in here.” He growled.  
  
“The hell are you talking about?” Rebecca chimed in, matching her own maestro’s fierce glare.  
  
He motioned his head at Blakki. “That ninte there. You know drop-outs shouldn’t hang around this school.”  
  
Colette and Rebecca gasped and intensified their glares.  
Shouri was confused.  
  
And Blakki just kind of stared. That word… Ninte. It was so familiar, but not in a good way. Just him speaking that word in her direction made her feel awful, like she should be ashamed for even being born.  
  
She wanted to cry at being called that, but there was something else in her. Something that told her not to give him that satisfaction. Something that wanted to rebel.  
  
“You fucking take that back!” Rebecca growled, baring her fangs.  
  
“Why? It’s true, fucking nin-”  
  
“Colette?”  
  
Everyone stopped and looked to Shouri. His hand was resting on the other maestro’s shoulder. “I’m not from around here. How legal is it to fight other maestros?” He asked calmly.  
  
“W-well I mean, as long as it’s in a proper arena and both sides agree it’s not really a problem but-”  
“So where’s the nearest arena?”  
  
The jock maestro and resonator laughed. “What? You want to scrap with us?”  
  
Shouri looked up with a rebellious smirk. “Of course. How else would I show you how great my partner is?”  
  
Colette stared blankly at the boy. Rebecca also lost her own edge, having been beaten to the challenge by the insulted in question.  
  
“Heh, your funeral, fucking ninte.”  
“I just hope that there’s another healer nearby when were done with you. Blakki isn’t in a charitable mood right now.”  
  
\---  
  
The group had left the gym and went out to the fields near the school where there was a dirt court.   
  
As the group walked to the battlefield, Shouri muttered to Colette. "So what does that word even mean? Based on your reactions, it's not good."   
  
"It's a slur for Lunar-elementals. There's kind of a stigma about Lunar-element resonators." The female maestro explained quickly.   
  
The male resonator nodded and walked ahead. "Sounds like there's more to the story, I'll ask you later."  
  
Their opponent seemed to take a place opposite of where they had ended up. Shouri looked around. There were chalk lines drawn in the dirt, with squares for each maestro to stand. The boy smirked. “I swear this is like an anime I watched.” He muttered, taking in the sights. Blakki stood in front of her maestro, arms folded across her chest. Rebecca and Colette watched with concern from the side-lines.  
  
Already in place, their opposition began the customary pre-battle banter: “You’re not going to run away as soon as I get serious are you ninte?”  
  
He shook his head and shrugged. “I was about to ask the same question!” Shouri retorted back.  
  
“Fucking cocky-” The larger man gritted his teeth. “Make that mutt eat dirt.” He told his own resonator, who replied with a confident nod. “Colpito da una Roccia, Piano!”  
  
“Passo Silenzioso, Presto Staccato!” Was Shouri’s opening command.  
  
The earth resonator created a boulder in the air and threw it in Blakki’s direction. The girl side stepped out of the way, becoming a mere shadow as she did so.  
  
“I venti che battono il sahara!”  
  
The winds began to pick up and small particles of sand were slowly being drawn into the torrent of shifting air. Shouri shook his head again and spoke his next command.  
  
“Chiaro cielo di mezzanotte.”  
  
The winds calmed and the sandstorm that was attempting to be started cleared away. The opposing maestro gritted his teeth. He was being toyed with.  
  
“Bontà della Protezione Della Terra, Tenuto!”  
  
Blakki and Shouri watched the ground around their opponent slowly work its way up their enemy’s form, creating rock-like armor.  
  
At this moment, Shouri’s tuner beeped. “Hahaha… okay.” The maestro laughed at the timing of this new spell.  
  
“Cancella il Ritmo!”  
  
Blakki darted forward towards the opposing wall of rock that encased their target. He brought a rock clad fist back and launched a punch at the much smaller fox-girl. She easily dodged the attack thanks to her still applied Passo Silenzioso, and appeared behind her target.  
  
“Crush her!”  
  
Before he had a chance to turn around, she merely tapped his armor with a glowing hand, and the rock armor just fell off of the opposing resonator. In desperation he took a swing on Blakki, but she was just more nimble than her opponent and easily dodged it without even using her evasion spell.  
  
Naturally, the ease at which the female resonator was countering their spells and dodging around their physical attacks brought the opposing maestro to his boiling point.  
  
“Parte la Terra!” Came the angered command.  
  
The earth resonator jumped at Blakki, who easily jumped away from that attempt, however, this was a feint as he easily broke the surface of the earth as if it was water.  
  
“Really? You’re really doing this?” Shouri shook his head.  
  
“Yeah! Sucks when you can’t land an attack huh?!” The other resonator jeered. “When you decide to come back up: Colpito da una Roccia, Piano!”  
  
Blakki slowed her breathing, standing up straight. She closed her eyes and allowed her ears to point straight up.  
  
This ease in posture earned the taunting of the enemy maestro. “Giving up already? Typical Ninte!”  
  
The fox-girl ignored this, her ears still just twitching occasionally. Shouri merely watched his own resonator, waiting as well. What felt like an eternity passed. Suddenly her eyes opened again.  
  
“Mente Offuscata, Forte!”  
  
Blakki jumped backwards, just as the ground beneath her broke. The enemy resonator rose halfway through the ground with his own attack beginning to form when he screamed out in pain.  
  
“Wait wha-?”  
  
Shouri shouted out another command: “Luce Lunare, Pianissimo Staccato!”  
  
And then it was a bloodbath. As if like a machine gun Blakki began to throw ball after ball of lunar energy. Each individual attack wasn’t that much, but the rate at which the fox-girl was creating and throwing the small balls of energy was staggering.  
  
The opposing maestro just stood there in absolute shock at the beating his own resonator was taking.  
  
The barrage of lunar energy stopped for a moment.  
  
“Do you surrender?” Shouri asked.  
  
“What? To a fucking Nin-”  
  
Before he could get out the second syllable of that word, Blakki restarted her barrage.  
  
“STOP! STOP! I GIVE! PLEASE! DON’T KILL HIM!”  
  
Blakki stopped at the begging of the opposing maestro. The dust settled from her brutal assault revealing her fallen, unmoving opponent. After staring at the once proud earth resonator for a moment, she turned and walked back to her own maestro. Shouri raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t say stop.” He commented, arms folded across his chest.  
  
“Even if whatever he’s saying makes my blood boil, I’m not going to kill them.” Blakki retorted. She watched her partner contemplate this. “Hmmm, I guess we shouldn’t randomly kill people.” He glanced at the opposing maestro who was trying to confirm if his own resonator was even alive. “Even if they deserved it.”  
  
Colette and Rebecca were a bit unnerved by this display. This boy and his maestro seemed to have total mastery of their skills. They didn’t even take a single hit in that battle and easily maneuvered around their opponent.   
  
Despite the brutal efficiency of the beat down she witnessed, this didn’t scare Colette Severine. It just made her more determined to find out who these people were.

\---

“Solar, Fire, Water, Earth, Nature, Lightning, Lunar.”  
“Long ago there were seven great heroes who banded together against the collective evil of humanity. On their own they failed, but together, they could succeed.”  
“The story goes that before the final battle, the Lunar hero vanished, only appearing again once the battle was won.”  
“To this day, people look down on Lunar resonators as the traitors that left when the world needed them the most.”  
  
“The word Ninte is a corruption of a word from the old language which basically means “zero” because people felt that the Lunar hero contributed nothing to the victory, but was celebrated as a hero.”  
  
Shouri and Blakki mulled over the explanation they just heard. “Hrm, typical racists.” The boy muttered. “The word itself doesn’t mean anything, but it’s the hate and vitriol that carries the weight.”  
  
Blakki stared at the table the quartet were sitting at. She had thought a bit about being called a Ninte. “I could feel that from that man. He hated me for just being born.” She hummed a few times to herself, still pondering that situation “Though, it felt so familiar, as disgusting as it sounds.” She spoke in a hushed voice.  
  
Shouri patted his partner’s back, then rubbed it with the same hand. “Don’t worry. We have racist trash like that back home too. Nothing new sadly.” He spoke softly.  
  
“Eh?” The fox-girl looked to her partner.  
  
“I know you don’t know any better, but my name is super foreign sounding and kinda hard to say if you’re just reading it. Leads to people making assumptions about me.” The boy shrugged. “See why I never go outside?”  
  
She wilted at that thought. There wasn’t even a safe haven back home either. No matter where she went… “People are horrible.”  
  
Rebecca sighed, seeing the dejected pair was depressing to say the least. “Sorry we’re not a magical utopia.” She offered.  
  
“No big deal. I guess in a super fucked up way, it’s kind of comforting to know people are at least consistent.” Shouri added a laugh after that.  
  
Colette rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. “Didn’t peg you for a nihilist.” She commented.  
  
“I’m a realist.” He countered.  
  
Rolling her eyes, Colette continued with the last bit of trivia. “There have only been movements in the last forty or so years to finally try and break that stigma.” She looked to Blakki and smiled. “My grandfather taught me to judge people on how they act and not what they are.”  
  
“Hey I got an idea.” Rebecca piped up suddenly. “Do you two want to come to raid tonight?”  
  
Shouri shook his head. “Sorry, not a big MMO fan.”  
  
The three girls all stared at the boy.  
  
Sensing the difference in culture ruining his joke, he looked away awkwardly, trying to recover from that slip up. “Nothing nothing.” He waved it off. “So, what’s this raid thing?”   
  
The fire resonator of the group spoke up. “Remember that thing I said earlier where we can work with companies to fight scherzando?” The two other-worlders nodded. “Well raids are groups of rhythm users who go after scherzando clusters and take them out before they get into the city.”  
  
Blakki nodded. “Ha senso.”  
  
Colette decided to chime in finally. “Wait, we were going to leave for Canto All’acqua tomorrow morning. We shouldn’t stay out too late.” The maestro protested.  
  
Rebecca dismissed her maestro’s concern. “Relax relax! We’ll only go for a little bit. We should at least show them how we take care of business here, right?”  
  
For some reason, Colette felt uneasy about this, but wouldn’t voice her concern audibly. “If you insist.”  
  
Clapping her hands together, Rebecca smiled. “Great! It’ll be fun!”  
  


\-----

The remaining daylight hours were spent in casual discussion while showing Shouri and Blakki around town. When the sun had gone down for the day, they took a turn towards the edge of town.  
  
The new duo looked around in awe as the car pulled up to the location where the raiders in question met.  
  
There were quite a few cars parked in the lot just on the edge of town. There were several buildings nearby that people were coming and going from, notably carrying bags of food as they returned to the impromptu camp. The group of four got out of the car and started walking towards the gathering.  
  
It was a bit cool out now as the sun had gone down, but that didn’t seem to damper the spirits of these would be raiders. The base camp was rife with activity and discussion between maestros and resonators alike. “Wow, this is a bigger thing than I thought.” Shouri commented.  
  
Rebecca nodded as she took in the atmosphere as well. “Yeah. It’s not just people fighting though. Look around.”  
  
Sure enough there were tents set up with signs with all kinds of different products and services for sale. It was then that Shouri picked up on something odd. “What are they doing?” He asked pointing at a particular group of maestros and resonators.  
  
Their group came to a stop and watched. They weren’t close enough to hear what was being said, but they could see some kind of heated discussion was being had. After several exchanges like this, the two maestros seemed to agree on whatever they were talking about as they both nodded, smiled and shook hands. They then exchanged a couple of tuners, and there was a notable shuffle of their ranks as a few of the resonators switched sides.  
  
“What just happened?” Blakki looked at Collette and Rebecca for clarification. The two girls looked back and forth, humming in thought as they attempted to think of the best way to explain this.  
  
“They traded.” Collette said simply.  
  
Blakki tilted her head, confused at the concept. “Traded?”  
  
“They swapped resonators, for keeps.” Shouri stated, a hint of disgust in his voice.  
  
Rebecca placed a hand on the lunar resonators shoulder. “We’re bound to our tuners, so we can be freely traded like goods.”  
  
Now she understood, and it made her slightly ill. “Wh-what if they don’t want to? What if they like their maestro? Don’t they get a say in this?”  
  
Shouri spoke up. “Blakki, you know very well why that’s not possible.” His voice quivered a bit. Looking at her maestro, she saw guilt on his face. Which was enough to tell her what he was thinking. However, rather on focusing on the nature of the tuners, she was focused on how her own maestro felt about past transgressions. “N-no Sho, we talked about this, you didn’t know.”   
  
He gave no audible response and kept his head down in shame.  
  
The lunar resonator locked arms with her maestro. She stood up in her toes and whispered. “I told you I forgave you. If you really want to make it up to me, just forget it ever happened, like a bad dream, okay?” He looked over at his partner who was smiling at him. “I still don’t understand why you’re like this.”  
  
She continued to smile. “Cause, I know you’re not like them. I know you care about me.” She leaned into him, tightening the grip around his arm, her tail wagging back and forth like an excited dog.  
  
Colette and Rebecca just watched the pair basically flirt in front of them. The fire resonator coughed loudly. “Anyways, let’s go register. I’m itching to burn some shit.”  
  
“Of course you are.” Shouri grumbled.  
  
\---  
  
One of the men handling the registration forms stared at Shouri’s tuner. Healing and support spells in Adagio rank, and attack spells in Forte rank. What’s more, the resonator in question was a Lunar resonator, a rare breed because of how society looked upon them. To top it all off, this particular lunar resonator was practically attached to her maestro, holding his right arm and smiling while her tail happily swayed back and forth behind her.  
  
“Well you’re basically fit to do whatever you want.” The organizer handed the device back to its owner. “Where did you say you’re from again?”  
  
“California.” Shouri stated bluntly and truthfully.  
  
“Uh-huh. Never heard of it.”  
“Small place, not surprised you haven’t heard of it.”  
“You takin’ that girl and her fox with you too?”  
“If possible.”  
“Okay, I’ll have your group take the left flank as you requested. Though I really feel someone of your skill should be taking point with the vanguards.”  
“We gotta bail early, and taking point would go against that.”  
“If you insist. Stick around and get paid though. The tuner will track your kills and credit your account accordingly.”  
“Neat.”  
  
And with that, Shouri was free to do whatever he wanted within reason.  
  
“Are we good?” Colette asked as Shouri returned, skeptical that their demands would even be met. She and Rebecca had tried similar stunts in the past and just told to shut up and get in line.  
  
Much to the red-head’s surprise, he nodded and said “Yup, we’ve got the left flank to ourselves, easy.”  
  
Rebecca grinned toothily, liking that answer. “Alright, now we can really let loose-”  
  
Blakki cut in however. “Can you guys be careful with the fire though? Sho has pyrophobia.”  
  
The fire-resonator had no audible response and instead gestured angrily in Shouri’s direction.  
  
\---  
  
The group of four was eventually directed to a small section of the nearby forest just on the edge of the city. They faced a row of trees and awaited the sign that the vanguard group had begun their rush. Or at least that’s what they were told.  
  
Their task was simple: any stragglers that broke rank and attempted a rush towards the city were to be dealt with by their small group.  
  
“So, is it normally this rehearsed?” Shouri suddenly spoke up. He blankly stared into the empty woods.  
  
“Eh?”  
  
He looked to Colette who was confused by the sudden question. “The scherzando appear randomly and independently in our world. Keeping an eye on them is more of an art than a science.” The maestro spoke, his bored gaze still cast towards the unsuspecting trees.  
  
Colette frowned. “Well it’s different here.”  
  
“Rhythm works the same. If scherzando are a natural force, then shouldn’t they be the same here?”  
  
The red-haired maestro looked to her resonator, hoping she’d have some thought on the situation. All she got was a frown and a shrug.  
  
The boy turned his head towards Colette. “Corporations cannot commit treason, nor be outlawed, nor excommunicated, for they have no souls.”  
  
Colette glared at the waxing poetic. “What the hell does that mean?”  
  
Turning his attention back towards the forest, he replied simply. “Food for thought I suppose.” He paused after that comment. “What do I know though? After all, I’m just an outsider.”  
  
Silence returned to the group. They all remained quiet until a bright flash of light appeared over the center of the forest, drawing the four teen’s attention.  
  
“That it?”  
“Yeah. Get your tuner ready.”  
  
Sure enough, like clockwork, a small cluster of scherzando rushed out of the underbrush at the group. Rebecca rushed out in front of the group and held her hands out while Colette announced their first move:  
  
“Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto!”  
  
The night was lit up by a sudden ring of fire that surrounded the group of scherzando. Colette opened her mouth to follow up, but Shouri stepped in with Blakki charging towards the ring of fire. Rebbeca’s eyes went wide as she was passed by what seemed like a black blur.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
A ball of lunar energy cleaved through the wall of fire, and with it, the trapped scherzando, evaporating them and dispersing the fire in one motion.  
  
Rebecca dropped her arms to her sides, just staring at the other fox girl, who slid to a stop in the slightly damp grass, before turning back to the group. Her eyes glowed an eerie blue as she looked back at the other resonator and the two maestros, awaiting further commands.  
  
Colette similarly watched helplessly as the situation was taken totally out of their wheelhouse. There was a measurable gap in power, the battle she witnessed earlier had put that thought in her head; this cemented it. It was almost unfair. She had been with Rebecca for years, almost their whole lives, and these two who _supposedly_ met only a couple months ago or so were just plain better.  
  
It made her wonder: just how bad was the other world that they were already this battle-hardened? She couldn’t help but imagine some kind of post-apocalyptic dystopian hell-scape.  
  
Shouri, however, was totally unfazed by this battle and began advancing north to close up their flank. “Thanks for keeping them in place. Pisses me right the hell off when they run.” He commented as he passed by Colette.  
  
She just stared as her own resonator shakily returned to her side. “What did Grandpa Tom say about them again?” Rebecca asked.  
  
“They’re good kids.” Colette frowned, folding her arms across her chest. The other pair was walking side-by side, just continuing on into the forest.  
  
Rebecca wore a sharp frown herself. “It’s so practiced for them. I mean, we saw their fight earlier, but I swear, that girl’s faster than she looks, even without that lunar spell backing her up.” The fire-resonator commented.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
“I swear she already had the spell in her hands before he finished calling out the spell.”  
“Rebecca, don’t be ridiculous, that’s impossible. We’re all limited by the tuner’s processing speed. A spell CAN’T physically be cast until the tuner is sure of the spell and modifiers you’re using. We both know this.”  
  
The fox girl tilted her head back and forth, trying to think of something to counter that logic, but nothing came to mind. Lunar resonators didn’t have any special cheat commands that let them defy physics, she knew that. “You’re right, maybe it was just a heat of the moment thing. Adrenaline making me see things.” The fox girl shrugged with a laugh.  
  
Colette nodded. “Yeah, let’s get going though. They might need our help.” This comment earned another laugh from her resonator.  
  
“Key word here is “might”.”


	33. Chapter 33

“Nuvola Oscura, Allegro!”

A cloud of black smoke obscured Colette’s already limited vision. “What the fuck!?” She barked into the murky darkness. He was just toying with their enemies now.

Rebecca stayed close to her maestro, seeing how their partners were now just plain carrying them, the least she could do was make sure her own maestro wouldn’t be caught off-guard. Her eyes remained shut, seeing how they were worthless in the lunar-cast smoke. Her own fluffy ears twitched every so often, keeping track of where Shouri, Blakki, and their enemies were.

“Mente Offuscata, Forte!”

There was a thud nearby.

“Luce Lunare, Piano!”

Another thud, followed by rushing footsteps through the underbrush of the forest.

Enough was enough. Colette lost her temper. “God damn it! Let us do something!” She shouted into the smoke, stomping her feet childishly as she did so.

“Cancella il Ritmo.”

The smoke vanished, revealing Blakki and Shouri were in fact standing right in front of them. “Have fun, it’s a Solar. I hate those things.” The boy commented, as he and his partner walked in the opposite direction of a white, glowing rooster-shaped scherzando.

With a sigh, Colette shook her head. “Fine fine.”

Rebecca stepped forward herself, keeping an eye on the opposing scherzando.

“Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto!”

Just as they had opened up with before, a ring of fire erupted from the ground, surrounding the opposing scherzando. Rebecca rushed in, straight through the flames that ensnared her opponent. “Lanciaflamme, Piano!”

The solar scherzando was surprisingly nimble in the small space provided, dodging the stream of flames that Rebecca unleashed on it. With a flap of its wings it kicked up a violent gust of wind that blew away the fire resonator and her flames. The fox girl stayed on her feet however and prepared to receive her next order, when the scherzando suddenly glowed an intense brilliant light, which blinded Rebecca.

“Rebecca!”

She could hear the scherzando scuttling through the dead leaves on the ground. Her eyes stung whenever she opened them, so leaving them closed was the best option for the moment.

“Purifica L'anima, tutti.”

As those words were spoken, a feeling of relief graced her pained eyes, allowing her to open them and lock on to the opposing scherzando once more.

“Bolide, Piano!”

Rebecca swiped her hand towards the enemy scherzando, just as it unleashed a ball of solar energy at her.

BOOM!

Rebecca flew into the dirt and leaves, just as her spell landed on the opposing rooster scherzando, which was a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared, nothing of the solar rooster remained. The fire-fox picked herself up off the ground, grumbling something about birds and their general intelligence.

“La Bella Vita, Allegro tutti.”

The fire resonator turned to see her Lunar counterpart holding out her hands. A wave of relief permeated her form as Blakki’s hands glowed.

“Thanks for the heal, both of them.” Rebecca muttered.

Shouri smirked. “Hey, we’re usually alone. It’s nice to be able to use these.”

Colette was less than pleased, however. “I can tell.” She practically growled before stomping ahead. Rebecca looked between the two maestros before following her own, leaving Blakki and Shouri alone.

“What’s their deal?” Shouri asked his own resonator.

“I mean, we did kinda just deal with everything except what we didn’t want to and then expected them to keep up with us.” The lunar resonator replied with a slight frown.

“That’s not my problem. This is about money, right?”  
“They said something about that.  
“Aha! Maybe they’re mad we’re taking all the money.”  
“Actually Sho, I have a feeling that’s not it.”

The boy raised an eyebrow. “It’s always about the money.” He decided on.

She shook her head. “No no, like when we used Nuvola Oscura earlier, they can’t see through that.” Blakki pointed out. “You and I aren’t affected by my spells, just like Rebecca isn’t affected by her fire.”

“Oh, okay. So, they’re mad we’re doing things that directly hinder them.” Shouri nodded. He then frowned hard. “Well they shouldn’t use a fuck you fire ring to trap the scherzando then.”

“Sho, we demonstrated in the first fight tonight that we’re not hindered by that spell.” Blakki countered.

This earned a harder frown from the maestro. “Stop pointing out the flaws in my logic. Just let me have this.” He pouted.

Blakki smiled and elbowed her maestro playfully. “I’m just keeping you honest like you asked, sciocco.”

\---

As they carried on, the enemies thinned out. Shouri was the first to notice, followed by Colette and their resonators.

“Weren’t the vanguards or whatever supposed to be around here?” He asked suddenly.

“In the clearing ahead, I believe.” Colette replied, taking the lead. It seemed too quiet. Rebecca and Blakki shared a look of concern as they rushed ahead of Colette.

Coming into the clearing revealed pandemonium. A few desperate maestros tried to fight off a horde of scherzando. Colette dropped her hands to her sides, mouth agape in shock as she watched the scene unfold before her.

“Mente Offuscata, Forte!”

A scherzando dropped to the ground in front of Colette. She then felt herself yanked backwards by the collar of her shirt. The sudden change in position causing her to losing her footing, which brought her to the ground.

“Passo Silenzioso, Presto Staccato!” Shouri stood in front of her, gripping the tuner in his hand tightly as Blakki rushed in.

“Luce Lunare, Pianissimo Staccato!” He barked out. Colette stared blankly. She could see his rhythm wavering. Shakily, she got up to her feet, Rebecca looking on in concern. Her eyes drifted towards the battlefield. It was never this bad. Why was it this bad tonight? What happened?

She watched Blakki dance around the battlefield, taking pot shots at enemy scherzando as they approached groups trying to recover and retreat. However, despite her deliberate conservation of rhythm, the fatigue was starting to show on Shouri, especially when Colette noticed the tips of his hair turning a pure white.

“Gah! You idiot!” She rushed over and clasped her hands around his tuner hand.

“What are you doing?” He asked quietly.

“Making sure you don’t die. Your rhythm is your soul, if it all burns away you die.” She reminded him. “This way, you can use my rhythm.” Colette added. She could already feel the tug from each Staccato spell being pulled by Blakki. She had never had Rebecca use that particular modifier before, so it was an interesting feeling.

Despite Blakki’s best efforts however, there were just too many scherzando and she was barred from dealing decisive blows due to the modifiers imposed on them. Finally, she re-appeared in front of Shouri and Colette. She fell to her hands and knees, attempting to catch her breath.

Shouri gritted his teeth, trying to think of something they could do, however they were all spent. Colette had begun giving up her own rhythm to save him from burning out, and Rebecca didn’t have the level of spells needed to deal with all of these scherzando. To make it worse, the other maestros and resonators were barely fending off the onslaught of enemies that relentlessly attacked them.

Just when all seemed lost…

“L'albero originale, Ultrissimo.”

An enormous tree sprung up out of nowhere in the middle of the battlefield, it glowed a strange green aura. Its’ leaves pristine, at the absolute pinnacle of health. The bark, unmarred by any scarring or even visible age. The roots that sunk into the earth were thick and strong, firmly securing it in place.

The next thing that followed the appearance of this picturesque tree was a man, specifically a resonator. He had a large frame, with brown scaled wings and a reptilian tail which just added to the overall size of his silhouette. He rushed out into the field sharing the same green aura as the tree.

In an unbelievable show of force, he began practically dismantling the scherzando. No further words were spoken, he just cast as many spells as he wanted. Shouri recognized them as Nature spells, specifically being cast at Fortissimo.

A man with jet black hair walked over to the group. The way he walked and presented himself made it seem like even being awake was a bother to him.

“You okay?” He asked the group.

“Yeah… who are you?” Colette answered for the group of four.

The man glanced over at the nature-resonator, still dealing with the scherzando. “Shawn Hawk.” He yawned. “If you’re okay, I’ll move on.” He began to slowly trudge over to the next group.

“Wait.” Shouri decided to speak up himself.

The black hair man stopped. He still faced away from the group and remained that way for a moment, seemingly mulling over if he wanted to exert the effort to turn around. Having nothing better to do, he glanced back at the group.

“This turned out to be a disaster. Why are you only here now?” Shouri glared at the other maestro.

Shawn ignored the glare as he worked up the energy to give his reply. “I was the only one that picked up the phone. Thought I was still dreaming and answered it.” He yawned again. “Being here is a formality though. Ladon could have handled this by himself. I could have cast the tree from my bedroom.” Yet another yawn. “What a drag.”

And with that, the enigmatic maestro resumed shambling away.

Shouri sighed before falling to his knees himself. “H-hey!” Colette yelped, turning to the boy. Her concern eased when she saw him stroking Blakki’s hair (earning excited tail wagging from the fox-girl)

“I didn’t think I’d ever see that spell though.” Rebecca told her maestro.

“Right? Not many people get to see spells of that level.” Colette commented.

Shouri looked up at the standing pair. “What was that modifier? I never heard that one before.” He asked. “That was the ultimate modifier. The spell his casted was the Nature-Element Ultimate level support spell.”

That earned Shouri’s interest. “Ultimate level?”

“Every Element, Healing, and Shielding has one. The Nature Ultimate summons this tree that gives the resonator the ability to cast every spell in their arsenal as if they were in Rubato for free as many times as they want for however long they want.” Colette explained.

“Rubato is?”  
“Think Staccato, except instead of being stuck at the level it was cast at, the resonator can alter the level too.”

Shouri looked back out to the battlefield, which had now lost that adjective thanks to the resonator known as “Ladon” having dealt with all of the enemies.

“That’s fucking broken.” The male maestro decided on.

The quartet of Shouri, Colette, Blakki and Rebecca watched the recovery efforts of the medical teams for some time. They passed up assistance when they came by, not having taken any damage themselves. Shouri attempted to offer to help, but Colette stepped on his foot to shut him up. After they had recovered enough of their own energy, they went ahead and left the scene, moving back to the car.

“So where are you two gonna crash?” Rebecca asked as they reached the vehicle.

Shouri yawned. “Hotel somewhere. Don’t really care where, just want a bed at this point.” Despite having originally set a curfew for themselves, they had stayed out far too late. This was compounded by the fact that they all had awoken so early in the morning led to the exhaustion shared across both pairs.

“Just crash in our room. Colette and I can share a bunk.” Rebecca offered. Colette immediately glared at her resonator. “What?” She frowned at her maestro, having caught the glare.

“Girls dorm.”  
“And, it’s not like we’re fuckin’.”  
“Girls. Dorm.”  
“C’monnnn, no one’s gonna find out.”  
“Girls… Dorm.”  
“Seriously Colette, it’s not that big a deal. You really want to try to find a hotel for them at midnight?”

Blakki and Shouri drowsily watched the argument unfold as they stood next to the car. “We can just find somewhere. I’m sure someone has some open rooms.” Shouri chimed in.

The fire resonator turned her attention to Shouri momentarily. “Yeah, but you can make your money go further if you just sleep over.” Rebecca countered. “Plus, we can get out of here earlier in the morning if you’re with us.”

Rolling her eyes, Colette finally caved. “Fine! But if we get caught, this is entirely your fault.”

Rebecca laughed heartily as she twirled her car keys around her index finger. “You worry too much girl.”

\---

“This feels wrong.” Shouri muttered, trying to appear smaller than he was. Thankfully because it was so late, getting into the girl’s dorms was relatively easy. Blakki kept close to her partner. If worst came to worst, she’d fight anyone who would try to harm her precious maestro.

“Relax, for god’s sake.” Rebecca grumbled quietly as they arrived to their destination. The well-aged door with a worn metal plate with “655” etched onto it painted a clear picture of the age of this school, and by extension, the dorm room.

With a flick of the light switch near the door, the room was illuminated for their guests to see. The dorm room itself was small, just like the ones Shouri had remembered touring back home when he was still interested in physically attending a college. Unlike the rooms he had viewed, this was clearly not one the staff would present to perspective new students.

There was a bunk bed on one side of the room, and a clear divide of who occupied which side of the room. The neat tidy portion was Colette’s evidenced by the books and study material relating to rhythm.

Rebecca’s half of the room was a general mess, with her clothes and other worldly possessions haphazardly strewn about. Even her desk didn't escape the abuse, being slightly charred and singed in places.

The fire resonator in question motioned to the window near her own desk. “If there’s a fire, we’re right next to the fire escape, this window here.” The fox-girl told their guests.

Shouri shuddered, visibly. “I’m guessing you know this from experience?”

“Abundantly so.” Colette growled, glaring at her own partner.

Rebecca, either not caring or not catching on that her honor was being challenged, began to remove layers of her clothing, inadvertently showing a bit too much skin in the process. Colette immediately grabbed the last remaining shirt on her partner’s body and yanked it down hard.

“The fuck Colette!?” She yelped, having nearly fell from how hard her shirt had been yanked down.

“The fuck yourself!” Colette barked back. “Boy. In room. Shirt on.” She hissed at her resonator who apparently lacked any kind of shame.

Once again, Shouri and Blakki were subject to one of the pairs arguments, this one being about how to behave when they had guests.

The argument came and went like the tides of the ocean, and it wasn’t long before the group decided on their sleeping arrangements. Rebecca and Colette shared the top bunk, while Shouri and Blakki could make use of the bottom bunk and the floor. Neither pair realizing what the other intended.

Blakki held Shouri, slowly drifting in and out of consciousness.

“Are you okay?” Brought the girl back to full alert.

“Sto bene. What about you?”  
“Drained. But I wasn’t the one who got their steps in for the week.”  
“I might be a bit sore in the morning, but I’ll be fine.”

Shouri turned his head, not realizing where Blakki was positioned, ended up face-to-face with her. Both teens locked up for a moment, only snapping out of it when the tips of their noses touched. They simultaneously recoiled from the sudden touch. Thanks to the darkness of the room, neither party could see the other’s totally red face.

“G-good night Blakki.”  
“Buona… notte, Sho…”

\---

“Get up now!”

And with that, Blakki and Shouri were violently ejected from the bed. It was still dark out, and Rebecca was the one to rudely awaken the pair. They were quickly ferried off into the bathroom. Rebecca joined them, pressing her back against the door.

The groggy teens were barely cognizant enough to really register what was happening.

“M-move!” Rebecca hissed, pushing the pair into the shower. She pointed the shower-head away from them and turned it on, allowing the steam to rapidly build.

“What’s-mmph?!” And Shouri’s mouth was rapidly covered by the fire resonator who was now getting soaked by the still flowing water. She just looked back at the door nervously as the water ran down her face.

The red-haired fox girl gritted her teeth before looking back to Shouri and Blakki. “Hall Director I think.” She mumbled. “She’s a real bitch.” The fire resonator eased off of the noisy boy and crept back over to the bathroom door.

The pair still in the shower watched the other fox girl place her ear against the door. Her expression slowly morphed from confusion to horror, and then full-blown panic. She rushed back over, once again not caring about how soaked her clothes were at this point. She drew the shower curtain and began hastily removing her clothes. “Don’t look!” She hissed behind her. With a resounding splat, her clothes landed on the tile floor.

A second later the door was forced open. “What the fuck?!” Rebecca shouted. Her expression betrayed the angered tone. She was in a full panic. She had no idea what happened to her maestro, and now she was trapped with another maestro and resonator in a shower.

Before she could continue her act of showering, the shower curtains were thrown open.

The poor fox girl’s face was completely pale, she didn’t even bother covering herself up she simply stood there like a deer in headlights. What looked like a man in SWAT gear pointed a rifle at the girl. Time slowed for the girl. She had plenty of time to contemplate her own demise as she stared down the barrel of the weapon. Each bead of water that hit her carrying a distinct impact, every breath she continued to take felt as if it took minutes. Finally, the man turned away from her.

“All clear.” She could hear him say through his fire-resistant balaclava. He walked out, and Rebecca merely stood there until the sounds of his boots and gear were but a distant whisper.

Rather than her own well-being, Rebecca's first thought was to turn around and check on her guests. Only an empty wall greeted her. She stared at it as the water from the shower continued to rain down on her. “Where… did they go?” She blinked.

“Rebecca!” The fire resonator turned back to the door just as Colette rushed into the bathroom and wrapped herself around her partner. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” The maestro cried out, tears streaming down her face in relief that her precious partner was unharmed. “When they barged in here I thought the worst, but then they just left!”

The fox-girl broke their joyful reunion and held her maestro out at arm’s length. “Have you seen Shouri and Blakki? They were here and now they’re gone!”

Colette raised an eyebrow, staring at her resonator, utterly perplexed. “What are you talking about? They’re behind you.” She pointed over the other girl’s shoulder.

Sure enough, when Rebecca turned around, she saw Shouri and Blakki standing there just as she had left them before. Blakki’s face was buried in Shouri’s chest, holding him for dear life. Shouri similarly held his resonator, but his eyes were closed tightly and face entirely red.

“How did…?” Rebecca’s jaw caught a little slack as she stared at them.

Then she realized she was still totally naked.

If the swat teams busting down people’s doors hadn’t woken everyone up, Rebecca’s 130 decibel screech certainly would.  
  
\---  
  


After everyone had calmed down and dried off, they all sat around to compare notes on what just happened. Colette and Rebecca sat in their desk chairs, facing the bottom bunk where Shouri and Blakki sat.  
  
“I had Rebecca hide you guys ‘cause I thought it was the director doing spot checks.” Colette began. She closed her eyes recalling the scene she saw when she opened the door. There were several dozen of the heavily armed men in the hall.  
  
 _“We’re looking for a Lunar resonator and their maestro that was at the raid this evening. We have reason to believe they are here.”  
  
_ With a sigh, she opened her eyes. “They were looking for you two.”  
  
Blakki gulped, her heart racing. Why were they looking for them? Why were they looking for them with such weaponry? That was the scary part.  
  
Shouri folded his arms across his chest, tilting his head back and forth as he thought about the situation. “Why would they be looking for us though? Did something tip them off that we’re other-worlders? I’ve only told you and your gramps.”  
  
Colette frowned. “Question of the hour.”  
  
With that Shouri stood up from the bed. He turned to Blakki and held out his hand. She accepted it and stood up with him. “Thanks for the help.”  
  
The pair of natives looked at each other and then to the male maestro and his resonator. “Why?” Rebecca asked.  
  
“If they’re after us, you two will be in danger.” Shouri stated simply.  
  
Rebecca’s confused gaze soured as she began to glare at the boy. “Uh, hello? We have been seen all around town with you. If anything, that’s probably why they came in here with guns.”  
  
“If it comes down to it, we’ll just say we bribed you or something.”  
“Oh like they’d believe that.”  
“I’d think of something to get you two out of this.”  
  
The fire resonator scoffed. “Get over yourself.”  
  
That comment only served to anger Shouri. “I’m sorry I don’t want to get random people killed.” He retorted.  
  
At this point the fox-girl got out of her chair. “And I’m not going sit by and watch some lost kid get gunned down by the fuckin’ army.” She resisted the urge to raise her voice, but was failing.  
  
Finally, Colette decided to intervene. She herself stood up and positioned herself between her resonator and the other maestro. “That’s enough.” She spoke calmly. She looked to her resonator. “We should respect their wishes of not wanting us involved.”  
  
Rebecca barred her teeth in frustration, but didn’t offer any further protest.  
  
“However!” She turned to Shouri. “We’re already involved. If anything, they were giving us a chance to surrender you peacefully. As soon as you leave here, Rebecca and I will likely be apprehended as well.” She smirked.  
  
Shouri narrowed his eyes, focusing his attention on the other maestro, and ignoring the shit-eating grin Rebecca was wearing. “You’re awfully calm about admitting that you’re probably an outlaw now.”  
  
Colette shrugged. “The scholar in me outweighs the civilian in me. Technically you’re an alien, and that’s way more interesting to me than attending classes and getting hit on by clueless guys.”  
  
Seeing how he wasn’t going to dissuade the reckless girls, he sighed. “Fine, but when we’re about to be executed for crimes against the state, you are not allowed to blame me.”  
  
The fire resonator couldn’t keep her mouth shut at this point and spoke up. “Hell yeah! That’s my maestro!” She pumped her fist in the air. “Road trip time?”  
  
“As soon as we figure out how we’re getting out of here.” Colette laughed nervously.  
  
\---  
  
“This is stupid.” Shouri grumbled to Blakki as they waited in total darkness by the window. They were alone in Colette and Rebecca’s dorm room. It was still very early in the morning, so early that the sun had yet to rise yet.  
  
“Andrà tutto bene, Sho.” Blakki looked to her maestro with concern. The past hour or so had been pretty alarming to say the least. Though what confused her the most was what had happened while they stood in the shower. Both Rebecca and the man with the gun both acted like they didn’t see Shouri and Blakki.  
  
She wouldn’t have time to ponder that thought however as a small wisp of fire splashed harmlessly against the window. The signal to put their plan into action.  
  
Wordlessly, Shouri threw open the window and stepped out onto the fire escape. The chill of the early spring morning hitting him instantly. He helped Blakki out of the window and closed it behind her. The pair climbed down the ladder to the ground. Rebecca had the car idling with the lights off, as not to reveal who was descending from the sixth floor.  
  
Quickly and quietly, Blakki and Shouri flanked either side of the car and practically jumped into the back seats. Rebecca took them out of the campus, avoiding speeding or anything that would draw attention to them. The last thing they needed was to get stopped by a regular cop just doing their job.  
  
The tension in the car remained high even as they made it to the highway. Shouri and Blakki sat low, to avoid being seen. Colette kept her eyes glued on the rear-view mirrors, Rebecca scanning the road ahead of them.  
  
Thankfully, no one was following them, and no elaborate traps had been set up for them to fall into. As the landscape slowly morphed into abandoned desert, the group began to relax.  
  
“I think we’re safe for now.” Colette looked back for the first time since they had taken off. Shouri and Blakki sat up straight, both groaning about the position they had been forced to sit in.  
  
Shouri looked out the window. It reminded him of home in a lot of ways. Despite the differences in map, large stretches of land were similar if not the same as his own world. Especially the deserts that made up a chunk of his home state.   
  
“Rebecca?” Blakki spoke up suddenly.  
  
“Hm?” The fire resonator looked at her lunar counterpart through the rear-view mirror.  
  
“Did you really not see us before?”  
“Wait, I thought you did something?”  
“Che? No, I didn’t do anything.”  
  
Colette decided to speak up at this point. “She may have used her class skill.”  
  
“Her what?” Shouri frowned hard. He had a nasty feeling some new rules were about to be thrown at him.  
  
The more learned maestro smiled and shook her head. “Elements have class skills, they’re hard to activate so you typically only see them in maestros who have gotten fortissimo-level spells.”  
  
“You saw one yesterday. Parte la Terra is the earth class skill that lets its user burrow through the earth.” Rebecca pointed out.  
Shouri shot a look to Colette. “Hey, you just said that only Fortissimo-level maestros can use those.”  
“I said typically!” Colette barked back.  
The boy mulled that over for a moment before shrugging. “Okay, so what’s so special about these things?”  
  
Colette was a bit disarmed about how easily Shouri relented. She cleared her throat and continued: “Basically, they’re like a natural ability a resonator can use. It uses rhythm but doesn’t need a spell.”  
  
“Wait, but I thought maestros only had rhythm.” Blakki pointed out.   
  
The female maestro shook her head. “No, everything that’s alive has rhythm. Resonators just can only use their rhythm defensively. That’s why scherzando and other resonator attacks don’t do as much damage. Think of it like body armor.” She explained.  
  
Shouri nodded. “So that explains one thing, but back to these skills.”  
  
“Right, so Blakki probably used Allucinazione di Massa, it’s an illusion skill. Lunar resonators can use it to hide from plain sight. I’ve heard some stories about some bloodlines being able to alter their actual appearance using it though, but that’s just an urban legend as far as I know.”  
  
Blakki looked to her currently visible hands. “I can do something like that?” She tried to will herself invisible like they were claiming she could do, but frowned when she remained in the visible spectrum.  
  
Shouri placed his hand on hers. She looked over as he smiled warmly at her. “You can do a lot of things we don’t know about apparently.”  
  
She got lost in his warm, inviting gaze for a moment, before she realized they were not alone. “V-vedo!” She yelped before looking away to hide her ever reddening face.  
  
“Stop flirting.” Blakki heard Rebecca grumble under her breath, which only served to intensify the red on the lunar resonator’s face. 


	34. Chapter 34

Cold  
  
It was so cold. She wondered how she got there. Why was all she could see white? It hurt to keep her eyes open. So, for one final time she’d close her eyes, only able to maintain her thoughts for a small time as even that was turning to cold static.  
  
It wasn’t fair.  
  
She hadn’t done anything yet.  
  
She didn’t want to die.  
  
\---  
  
Blakki gasped as she opened her eyes. She hastily looked around. The hum of an automobile greeted her hearing. Colette in the front seat, adjusted the mirror on her sun visor to look back at the lunar resonator.  
  
“You okay?” She asked.  
  
“B-bene; just a bad dream.” Blakki mumbled.  
  
Rebecca similarly turned her rearview mirror in Blakki’s direction. “We’ll be there soon, so you can get out and stretch your legs.” The fire resonator told her passengers.  
  
“Finally.” Shouri piped up, stretching himself. “Sleeping in cars sucks, no matter which world you’re in.” He grumbled.  
  
“Haha… yeah.” Blakki laughed hollowly. Her fake smile quickly faded as she looked down. She was sweating right now from the sun shining into the car, but the cold she felt in her dream, it was so real; and that’s all she could recall. The biting frigid air, but nothing more.  
  
She wouldn’t have time to stew in her own thoughts, as the car began to slow as Rebecca turned off the highway and then pandemonium as the car jostled violently from leaving the even, paved roads.  
  
“It’s a bit rough by the way!” Rebecca shouted back as she fought to maintain control of the vehicle.  
  
“Oh gee! Thanks for the early warning!” Shouri barked sarcastically, bracing himself in his seat.  
  
“Relax we’re almost there!” She yelled back, still focusing on driving through the rough terrain. This would only last a few more minutes, as the car approached a large rocky outcropping that defiantly stood against the sandy skyline.  
  
There was a large almost crater like formation to the stone formation, which surrounded a house that was build in the center of it, proving ample shade to the lonely home.  
  
Rebecca threw the car into park and looked over at the GPS that had guided them to this spot. “Well, at least there’s something here.” She frowned. The house itself didn’t seem to match the environment it was in. A large wooden home that was built in the classical gothic architecture. In the middle of the desert.  
  
“Looks like someone left a haunted house out to dry.” Shouri commented, taking the opportunity to open the car door.  
  
The engine was turned off, and the driver herself exited the car. “Damn, it’s hot even for me.” Rebecca put a hand over her eyes to shield them from the oppressive sun.  
  
“Ugh, of course we come out here without a water resonator.” Colette groaned, joining in the complaining about the heat.  
  
“È tremendo…” Blakki complained as well, grabbing the collar of her t-shirt and rapidly moving it back and forth in a vain attempt to get air flowing around her.  
  
Shouri took the initiative and began walking towards the out of place home. The other three wordlessly followed, they weren’t going to argue with getting out of the harsh sunlight.  
  
It was noticeably cooler as soon as they reached the rocky outcropping that hung overhead. Some small rocks fell from overhead landing nearby. “This seems safe.” The male maestro of the group commented.  
  
Colette walked over to the door and gave it a firm knock. “Hello?!” She shouted a moment later.  
  
Silence.  
  
“Maybe she’s dead.” Shouri offered.  
  
“She can’t die.” Colette retorted.  
  
“Why is that?”  
“She’s an ethereal, like the sages.”  
“Oh great, another god to deal with.”  
  
The door opened at that moment. “I don’t like being referred to as a god.”  
  
Shouri stared straight ahead. He had heard a voice, and the door opened, but he didn’t see anything. He trained his vision down. There stood a girl half his height. She had long, waist length white hair, striking blue eyes, and wore only a large red sweater. Despite the environment she was living in, her complexion was a shade lighter than even the pale Blakki.  
  
“Uhhh…” The four teens stared at the small girl.  
  
“What?” The small girl asked. “What do you people want?”  
  
Colette decided to speak up for the group. “Uh, I’m-”  
  
“Colette Severine. Rebecca’s looking pretty healthy these days.” The girl stated simply. “Doesn’t tell me why you’re here.”  
  
The female resonator blinked. “Wait, how did you know that? I’ve never met you before.”  
  
The enigmatic girl smirked. “I made your fancy tuners, I know everything about you.”  
  
“So, you must be Rose then.” Shouri commented. He looked the tiny girl over. “I expected more mad-scientist, not tiny albino child.”  
  
Rose turned to the boy but she stopped upon taking a good look at him. “Tuner, hold it out.” She demanded.  
  
“What why?”  
“Don’t question me kid, hold out your damn tuner.”  
  
The green-eyed boy did as he was told, but as soon as he did so, Rose vanished into the device in a bolt of electricity. A small face appeared on the screen. “I remember this one! How the heck did you get here?!” Rose’s voice came from the device.  
  
“It’s a long story involving Italian and fox-girls.”  
  
“You’re a bad boy though. Poor thing.” Rose taunted from the device. His grip around the tuner tightened as Shouri glared at the small emoticon that was pitying them. The face vanished from the display and Rose appeared on the doorstep of her home once more. She held Shouri’s tuner, tossing it into the air and catching it.  
  
With a smirk, she spoke once more. “I’m Rose, the ethereal and inventor of Tuners, come on in.” She finally introduced herself before walking into the home.  
  
\---  
  
The quartet walked through the home, taking in their new surroundings. It was almost set up like a haunted house. If it hadn’t been so bright outside, it may have a little spooky. Rose vanished into a nearby wall socket, leaving the two pairs at a set of stairs.  
  
Shouri sighed. “Damn it; if she hadn’t taken my tuner, I’d say we should just turn around and head home.” He looked to Colette. “Can all lightning-resonators do that?  
  
“Kinda? That’s Cavo Scoperto, it’s the lightning class skill, but at a crazy high level.” Colette told the other maestro..  
  
“So, what you can teleport through plugs?” He raised an eyebrow.  
  
She shook her head. “No, it lets lightning resonators travel through metal, at high levels like Rose’s you can enter computers and stuff and travel around networks like its another world.” Colette explained.  
  
Shouri sighed. “You know, the more shit you explain to me, the more I realize Ryo didn’t invent shit and he just stole everyone else’s ideas.” The boy shook his head. “Anyways, let’s see what this kid can tell us that we don’t already know.” He grumbled, beginning the descent down the stairs. Blakki followed close behind, leaving Colette and Rebecca alone.  
  
“What’s his deal?” Colette asked her resonator.  
  
Rebecca shrugged. “Dunno. He mentioned in his long winding story that Ryo was like his enemy or something.”  
  
“The guy that sent him here if I recall.” Colette frowned.  
  
“Sounds like he doesn’t have too high of an opinion of the fellow.”  
“Would you?”  
“Fair, I guess. Anyways, let’s follow them, I wanna hear what Rose has to say about Shouri’s tuner.”  
“Of course you do.”  
  
Shouri and Blakki meanwhile, just reached the end of the long, tight spiral staircase that led into a warehouse-like basement. There were super high ceilings, but what appeared to be well-worn lab equipment scattered all about. There were a few workbenches in the corners with all kinds of documentation and papers strewn about. All in all it was a mess.  
  
Rose herself sat in an office chair three sizes too big for her, watching the pair apathetically. She continued to toss the tuner she acquired from Shouri into the air and catching it.  
  
Deciding to get this moving, Shouri approached the bored looking little girl.  
  
“So, do you know how to get back to my world?”  
“Of course I do.”  
  
That actually disarmed Shouri to the point of silence.  
  
“You do?” Blakki picked up for her silenced partner.  
  
Rose smirked and shrugged, ceasing to play with the device she had reclaimed. “Well of course, who do you think hands you those tuners when you reach into the crystal ball?”  
  
Shouri narrowed his eyes, ignoring his eyes twitching in pure annoyance. “Wait, so you mean every time that idiot sage gives that dumb test of his, it’s just a tiny portal that you stuff tuners into people’s hands?”  
  
“Duh. What did you think it was magic?” Rose stared at Shouri incredulously.  
  
“No but I thought it’d be more…”  
“Complicated?”  
“Grandiose? He makes it seem like this big trial or test of character or something and all it turns out to be is a tiny tuner gremlin giving you a new toy “

“Hey I am not tiny!” Rose pouted. It was at this moment that Colette and Rebecca joined the group. “At any rate, yes, I know how to get you back to your world.” The ethereal shifted in her chair, leaning on one arm. She glanced down to the tuner in her hand.  
  
Shouri and Blakki looked at each other, and then to Rose. The ethereal girl remained quiet.  
  
“And how do we do that?” Blakki finally asked, daring to break the silence.  
  
Rose chuckled, her lips curling up slightly. “Now why would I tell you that?”  
  
Shouri gritted his teeth, glaring at the tiny inventor. He didn’t have anything to say. They did just kind of show up, unannounced. He shifted position where he was standing.  
  
“P-please help us. I don’t like it here. I just want to go home.” Blakki pleaded with the ethereal.  
  
The white-haired woman raised an eyebrow. “You are home. You don’t belong in that other world.” She commented.  
  
Blakki herself began to glare. “Don’t belong?! I don’t belong here! People call me names here and those army guys were trying to hurt us! At least in the other world I had friends! At least people don’t call me weird names!” She yelled at the ethereal, tears streaming down her face.  
  
The lightning-ethereal laughed hollowly. “Norrmalmstorgssyndromet.” She shook her head. “You’re whipped.”  
  
Colette and Rebecca both had to hold themselves back, both glaring at the tiny white-haired girl. Blakki just raised an eyebrow in confusion.  
  
“Pardon me, it’s another slur, specifically for resonators. But it’s so appropriate here. Only a whipped dog could be so mercilessly beaten by her master and still wag her tail happily when he gives her the time of day.” Despite the difference in height, it was obvious Rose was looking down and pitying the resonator.  
  
Shouri just hung his head in shame, his previous mistakes being thrown in his face once again.  
  
Blakki however, jumped. She tackled Rose and the chair to the ground.  
  
“Figlio di puttana! Ti ucciderò!” Blakki roared attempting to cave in Rose’s head with her bare hands. The ethereal moved her head back and forth, easily dodging the blows, despite being totally pinned to the ground.  
  
“Holy shit! Blakki!” Rebecca, finally snapping out of the stupor of a mere mortal attacking someone who couldn’t die, hopped into action herself, pulling her fellow vulpine resonator off of the lightning-elemental.   
  
“Porca miseria! Lascia che la uccida!” Blakki flailed angrily at the ethereal as she got up off the ground.  
  
Rose dusted herself off and looked to Shouri. She presented his tuner to him. “Well? Control your dog.” Shouri stared at the device, specifically the bright red button he knew she was referring to.  
  
“Mangia merde e morte!” The lunar resonator added, continuing her string of inappropriate language.  
  
The inventor ignored the harmless resonator and continued to hold the device out for its owner. “You asked Sahji why that button was there when you got your tuner.” Rose began. “That’s what it’s for. Resonators are wild animals who will hurt anyone. They need to be controlled.”  
  
Silence, the three other girls just stared. Even Blakki ceased her violent outburst.  
  
Shouri inhaled, then exhaled. “You’re wrong.” He spoke quietly.  
  
Rose raised an eyebrow. “Hmm?”  
  
“You. Are. Wrong.” The boy’s gaze met Rose’s. “I made a mistake. I fucked up. I will never forgive myself for that.” His voice was hushed, but carried a weight that felt as if he was shouting it to the world. “I didn’t trust her, and even worse than that I hurt her. She shouldn’t have to stand up for me.” He inhaled once more and turned his head towards Rebecca, who was still holding Blakki back.  
  
“Let go of her.” He said simply. Rebecca complied. Blakki didn’t immediately turn to attack Rose, instead she just stared at her maestro. With that taken care of, he looked back to Rose. “The only thing I can do is trust her. All that being said, if she wants to make you eat dirt, then who am I to stop her?”  
  
Rather than Rose’s retort there was a loud beep from Shouri’s tuner. The lightning-ethereal looked at the screen. She slowly smiled, looking over the device. Finally, she tossed it to its owner. Shouri shakily caught it, having been surprised by the sudden return of his tuner.  
  
“You pass.” Rose smiled.  
  
  
“Eh..?”  
  
The wind was taken right out of their sails.  
  
“I made the tuner to empower resonators, not enslave them.” She glared at Shouri once more. “So of course, I take exception to people who nearly KILL their resonators with them.”  
  
Blakki raised an eyebrow. “Wait a minute, if that’s the case, why does it have that function in the first place?”  
  
Rose chuckled. “When I originally made them, it didn’t have that function. But in order to maintain distribution rights on them, I had to capitulate with the government’s whims.”  
  
The male maestro joined in the confusion. “But you’re an immortal lightning god, why would you care about what some corrupt government officials say?”  
  
Rose picked her chair up off the ground. She looked it over her furniture before giving her answer. “Because I was mortal at the time.”  
  
“What?” Shouri narrowed his eyes, still trying to understand this. “Wait, I thought you guys were like representations of humanity or whatever.”  
  
“Shouri, that’s only the sages. The other ethereals are all normal people who were given their status by Cievo.” Colette explained.  
  
“Who?”  
“Actual god.”  
“Oh god this shit is so dumb.”  
  
“Ethereals are typically legendary heroes, or people of merit. Given the complacency of the modern world, there are very few modern ethereals. Which means I get ignored whenever we meet, despite everyone else at the table having a terribly dated mentality.” Rose grumbled, hopping back into her seat. “If it wasn’t for the sages progressing with humanity, I would be totally powerless.” She closed her eyes for a moment. The four mortals in the room looked at each other, remaining quiet.  
  
“I’ll help you get back home.” Rose spoke up suddenly.  
  
“R-really?” Blakki blinked. “Even after I…” She didn’t want to continue her statement, now feeling a bit embarrassed at lashing out like she did.  
  
Rose opened an eye. “Of course, unlike those old fogeys, I know how to forgive someone.” The girl chuckled. “You’d be surprised how many of their stories are about revenge.”  
  
\---  
  


Shouri laid in a bed in the old gothic home, staring at the ceiling. There was minimal light in the room. He was lost in thought.  
  
The past couple of days were a hurricane of events. They were on the run it seemed. Despite what he did to her, Blakki still stood up for him, and stood by him. He didn’t deserve that unflinching loyalty.  
  
He sighed and held his tuner above him. The device illuminating the screen after detecting the poor lightning conditions.  
  
 _Luce Lunare  
Pianissimo – Piano – Forte – Fortissimo  
  
Mente Offuscata  
Pianissimo – Piano – Forte – Fortissimo  
  
Nuvola Oscura  
Presto - Allegro - Moderato - Adagio - Lento  
  
Chiaro cielo di mezzanotte  
  
Passo Silenzioso  
Presto - Allegro - Moderato - Adagio – Lento  
  
La Bella Vita  
Presto - Allegro - Moderato - Adagio – Lento  
  
Purifica L'anima_

_Cancella il Ritmo_  
  
All of their spells were now fully unlocked. It must have been that beep earlier that signaled it. “Where are you?” He asked, holding down the talk button. Before he could shift his finger to press the listen button, he heard a response.  
  
“Downstairs with Colette and Rebecca. Do you need something?”  
  
Shouri sat up with a start. He stared at the device in his hand. He toggled the listen button. “Sho are you okay?” Her voice came from the device.  
  
Shaking his head, he pressed down the talk button. “I’m coming downstairs.” He decided.  
  
Untoggling the listen function, the room returned to silence once more. The listen function wasn’t on. But how did he hear her so clearly? After contemplating a reason for it, and arriving at none, he swung his feet off the bed.  
  
He walked out of the room and into the hallway. He made his way to the stairwell when he saw Blakki, halfway up the staircase. She stared up at him. “Sho…”  
  
“I’m fine Blakki.” He replied simply.  
  
“Bene.” She smiled.  
  
They both descended to the ground floor, where they found Colette and Rose. Rebecca was sitting in a chair nearby.  
  
“What do you mean you don’t have any food?” Colette questioned, struggling to keep her tone even.  
  
“I’m ethereal, why would I eat?” Rose snapped back.  
  
“Well you should at least have had something, even non-perishables! What happens when you get guests?!”  
“People don’t tend to like me for one reason or another; besides, I literally live in the middle of a hell desert, what makes you think I would expect people to just swing on by?!”  
“You make tuners right? Those have to get shipped, what about the poor drivers?!  
“I make probably like ten or so by hand a year if that, some big manufacturing town in Nabhon handles the rest.  
  
Blakki, Shouri, and Rebecca just kept moving their heads back and forth as they watched the pair argue.  
  
Hearing enough, Shouri chimed in. “If Ryo stole the idea of becoming electrical signals to move between places from this world, Rose should be able to just zap herself to a fast food joint and pick us up some burgers or something.”  
  
The other three girls directed their gaze back to Rose.  
  
“I mean sure, I suppose that’s the logical conclusion.”  
  
\---  
  
Shouri and Blakki ate their food provided by Rose in the bedroom they had claimed. The fox-girl smiled at the sandwich in her hands.  
  
“It reminds me of home.” She commented. Shouri, just about to take a bite of his own burger, closed his mouth and lowered the sandwich. This was not lost on Blakki, who also ceased eating. She stared at her maestro who hung his head.  
  
“Sho.”  
  
He looked up at his resonator; the guilt written all over his face.  
  
“What do I have to do to make you stop feeling guilty all the time?” She asked. “I just want you to go back to the way you were.” The fox-girl bit her bottom lip.  
  
His gaze fell again. “I hurt you Blakki; I’m no better than those people who treat resonators like objects.” The boy muttered.  
  
Blakki set her meal down on the paper next to her. She then reached out and grabbed Shouri’s food out of his hands and set it on its respective wrapping.  
  
“Eh?” He looked up just in time to see the fox-girl jump onto him, tackling him down onto the mattress underneath them. The boy stared up at the girl who held him down by his shoulders. Her eyes glowed ever so slightly in the dimly lit room.  
  
She glared at him for a moment before speaking. “You wanna make it up to me?” She asked. He averted his gaze.  
  
“I can’t do that.”  
“Can’t or won’t?”  
  
He continued to avoid looking her in the eyes. “Everytime I close my eyes I see you turning to me in horror, blood soaking your face and shirt. A direct result of something I did to you.”  
  
“But I’m fine-!”  
“What if you hurt me like that?!”  
  
Blakki’s eyes opened wide. She gritted her teeth. She’d do the same thing he was doing. Despite how hard she wanted to believe otherwise, she knew she’d feel just as guilty. “I…” She gripped Shouri’s shirt under her, her fist trembling. The girl shook her head and regained her composure.  
  
“I’d feel terrible. I can’t begin to imagine how you’re feeling right now. But we’re both okay now. We’re partners. I want us to go back to the way we were. We need to. We have to.”  
  
There was a pause. “So, here’s my demands.”  
  
Shouri remained quiet, but slowly gained the courage to look his resonator in the eyes.  
  
“We’re partners, so I don’t want any secrets anymore. If you don’t want to be my partner, just fucking tell me.”  
  
“Blakki I-”  
“Shut-up Sho, I’m not done.”  
  
He closed his mouth, the demand being executed.  
  
“My second demand is we’re going home together or not at all. I don’t care what we have to do to make it happen, but none of this compromise shit where only one of us gets to go. If that happens, we’ll find another way.”  
  
The boy nodded.  
  
“And third-” She dropped down on top of him, wrapping her arms around him. “You need to hold me while we sleep.” Her tone instantly had shifted to a quiet almost purr. “I sleep much better like this.” The fox-girl cooed, rubbing her cheek against his chest.  
  
Shouri merely laid there in shock. He could feel Blakki’s tail swishing back and forth happily. He couldn’t stop the tears from gathering. The maestro covered his eyes with his arm. “I don’t deserve someone like you in my life.”  
  
“Smettila Sho… just enjoy the journey…”


	35. Chapter 35

_“Who are you…?”  
“I’m you, kinda.”  
“So why are you here?”  
“To tell you that you’re close. You’ve done it before, so it should be easy.”  
“What?”  
“Just remember, that even after you’ve done everything you possibly could have, there’s one more weapon, one more tool left in your arsenal.”  
  
_Blakki opened her eyes. She laid in place for a moment, trying to recall specifics about her dream; but the dream slowly faded from her waking mind. She felt out her surroundings. There was warmth under her. Wait, under her?  
  
Her eyes finally met Shouri’s; who was staring at her. “You mind getting up? I really need to use the restroom.” He stated plainly.  
  
“Sh-sho!”  
  
Blakki buried her face in the spare pillows while Shouri made use of the facilities. “Guhhh…” She picked her face up from the pillow, still coated in a lovely shade of red. “He’s so warm and smells nice…” She whimpered to herself. She dropped her face back into the pillow. “I really do sleep better in his arms.” The girl attempted to burrow through the pillow with only her face from embarrassment.  
  
Her ears twitched upon catching the sound of the door opening.  
  
“You comin’?”  
“Si!”  
  
\---  
  
Blakki and Shouri made it downstairs, where Colette and Rebecca waited. “Morning.” The fire resonator waved.  
  
“Time of the day.” The male maestro replied as they arrived on the ground floor themselves. “Where’s the kid?” He asked.  
  
Just as she was being mentioned, the white-haired ethereal appeared through the floorboards of the house. “I am NOT a kid. I am 479 years young thank you very much.”  
  
“Hit me up when you’re 500, we’ll go drinking together.” Shouri stated simply, folding his arms and looking down at the tiny lightning god.  
  
Rose smirked back. “Heh, I’ll give you some time to grow up before I drink you under the table, kid.”  
  
Rebecca, Blakki, and Colette simply stared, having now been left out of the conversation.  
  
“When did they become friends?” Rebecca asked the lunar resonator.  
  
Blakki shook her head and sighed. “Onestamente, ne so quanto lei…”  
  
Colette shrugged herself. “Dunno, they only had the one conversation about getting the fast food last night after he passed her test or whatever.” She pointe out.  
  
“And that’s the short of what you need to do in order to get back home.” The two fox girl’s ears twitched as they re-directed their attention to the pair they started ignoring.  
  
“W-wait! You started explaining it?!” Colette barked, also having tuned out Shouri and Rose once they began their displays of bravado.  
  
The maestro involved in the conversation nodded to confirm. “It’s deceptively simple, but first I need to find out if my friends were dumped here, so we’re going road tripping.” He replied.  
  
Blakki wilted, it sounded like they would be away from home for even longer now. “How are we going to find them? They could be anywhere.” She decided to bring up.  
  
“Rose re-enabled the tracking feature. Apparently if a tuner is left out of range of other maestros for too long it starts seeking them out. That was the weird beeping that one night we met Sonia.” He explained. Rose nodded behind him, confirming this fact.  
  
The lunar-fox blinked. “Oh, okay. Well at least it’ll be easy?”  
  
“There’s one dot on the opposite coast from us.”  
  
Groaning commenced among the group.  
  
“The other one is in Europe.”  
“Where?”  
“Uhhh… Unis-Résonne?”  
  
The groans resumed, but louder.  
  
“You don’t have to help us you know.” Shouri pointed out turning to Colette and Rebecca proper.  
  
Colette made several noises as well gesturing with her hands before she finally got actual words out. “But I’d rather do field work than homework. But so much money and traveling…”  
  
Rebecca seemed nonplussed by the situation. “As long as we stop occasionally to do some hunts. Gas ain’t cheap.”  
  
Shouri raised an eyebrow. “Oh good, that’s a problem here too.”  
  
Rose raised an eyebrow. “You could always just burn rhythm for that you know?” She asked as if the concept of having to purchase gas was ludicrous  
  
The other-worldly maestro was the first to jump on that comment. “What? You can use rhythm for cars?”  
  
Colette turned to Shouri, now confused for an entirely different reason. “Well yeah, what else would you use?”  
  
“Black gold.”  
“What.”  
“A long time ago some big lizards died and became flammable goop. We put the goop in our cars and burn them to make them go.”  
“Uh-huh.”  
  
“In this world it’s a similar concept, except with rhythm instead. It burns cleaner technically. The main difference is instead of the planet getting hotter this world is slowly being over-ran by soulless man-eating beasts.” Rose clarified for all confused parties.  
  
Blakki shifted uneasily in place, but finally spoke up herself. “I remember Sahji said there was some gas that was supposed to wipe people’s memories and because of that you can’t burn rhythm either.” The fox girl told the ethereal.  
  
“Oh that’s what he’s telling you guys? I can’t tell you why you don’t have memories, but I can tell you that anyone can burn rhythm in air, it’s pretty easy.” Rose revealed.  
  
“WAIT WHAT?!” Colette nearly shrieked.  
“YOU CAN DO THAT?!” Rebecca added  
  
Rose calmly turned to the native maestro-resonator pair. “Sure, but it’ll make you vanish.”  
  
Silence.  
  
Colette gulped. “Wh-what do you mean?” Shouri noticed the girl seemed to pale even asking the question, as if even continuing the line of questioning would make Rose’s response law.  
  
“Well you’ve always been told that it’s impossible to burn rhythm in air, right?”  
“Y-yeah”  
“Rhythm is made up of three components.”  
  
Rose made three small balls of electricity that floated just above her open palm: one red, one blue, one yellow. They floated around an invisible point in space like planets rotating around a star.  
  
“Emotion, Willpower, Knowledge. As long as you know you can do. If you’re always told you can’t do something, rhythm will make it so. In fact, just the thought that you might be able to burn rhythm in air has already damaged you as far as the government is concerned.”  
  
The red-haired maestro took a step back, trembling ever so slightly. She backed right into her resonator, who grabbed her shoulders. Looking back, she saw Rebecca staring at Rose, with no fear or hesitation.  
  
“So that probably explains the mooks this morning then.” Shouri shrugged.  
  
The ethereal raised an eyebrow. “Mooks?”  
  
“Some like army guys were looking for me and Sho… I think.” Blakki fidgeted nervously, recalling their experience this morning.  
  
The white-haired girl sighed. “Sounds ‘bout right. If anything weird or out of place shows up, they’ll make it disappear.”  
  
The room fell to silence again.  
  
“Why?”  
  
Everyone turned to Blakki.  
  
“Why would they do something so horrible?” She asked.  
  
Rose smirked and shrugged. “Why else?” The teens all blinked, remaining silent. “Money of course. It’s way more profitable to sell rhythm back to the masses than if they could make it themselves.”  
  
“Hold on a second. Do all Ethereals know this?” Shouri pointed to the ethereal in question.  
  
“Dude, I’m almost five-hundred years old, I was around before this government was even a thought.”  
“Sorry I didn’t brush up on my alien history.”  
“Yer the alien here kid.”  
“My point stands.”  
  
“Anyways, the government knows better than to mess with us. Otherwise they draw the ire of the other ethereals.” Rose leaned against the wall behind her and folded her arms across her chest. “The continent of Follehtis was a real place some 10,000 years ago. They prospered in technology and were just about at our current level of technology. They thought themselves better than the gods and imprisoned one of the sages. After one of her followers freed her from their grasps, the other sages took it upon themselves to raze the land and bury the continent in the waves.”  
  
“Huh.” Shouri tilted his head back and forth in thought. “Sounds kinda like a myth from my world. It was told more as a cautionary tale about hubris.”  
  
Once more the lightning-ethereal smirked. “Not surprised. Our worlds have always been intrinsically linked.”  
  
“Anyways, if you’re already on the run, you might as well learn how to burn rhythm. If you’re on the watchlist it’s impossible to get off of it.” Rose told the group. “That goes for you two as well.” She turned her attention to Rebecca and Colette, who both jumped at being lumped into the group.  
  
“How do we do that?” Blakki chimed in with the relevant question.  
  
“Simple. Go see Noir.”  
  
\---  
  
The black sportscar sped down a dusty desert road. Blakki stared out at the unending, desolate sandscape that surrounded them. She recalled the conversation that led to the next leg of their road trip.  
  
 _“Master Noir is a younger ethereal like me. He’s like 441 or so, but his power commands more respect with other ethereals. He’s a true master of rhythm. When he was alive, he was said to be the reincarnation of the lost eighth sage. If anyone can teach you how to use rhythm to its full potential, it’ll be him.”  
  
_ Rose had given them directions, sure, but what concerned the young lunar resonator was everything that was happening. They were only going to see this Noir person because they were in danger. She looked towards the front seats of the car where Rebecca and Colette chatted normally. A wave of guilt washed over the resonator.  
  
They had probably just completely ruined these girl’s lives, and yet they seem to be totally fine with it. Looking to her own maestro, he seemed to be in just as deep of thought as her.  
  
“Ummm…”  
  
Blakki snapped out of her ruminations as discussion began in the front seat of the ever-slowing vehicle.  
  
“What do we do Rebecca?”  
“Dunno. The GPS leads here, but this ain’t it.”  
“What do we do? There is supposed to be a town here.”  
  
The lunar fox-girl’s ears twitched as she heard her partner’s seat belt unclip. Shouri grabbed the back of Rebecca’s seat and pulled himself forward. “What’s that?” He pointed to a small, what seemed to be parking lot with a couple of sand-covered cars littering it.  
  
Rebecca pulled the car around to the parking lot in question. A couple of vehicles had tarps covering them, while the few exposed to the elements looked to have been there for some time, with their paint-jobs practically sand-blasted off.  
  
The nearby mountains towered over the mysterious lot of abandoned cars. The two girls in the front seat looked around for anything of note here.  
  
Colette pointed to their right, towards the mountains. “Look, there’s a path going up from here into a cave.”  
  
“Oh boy, we’re going into a subterranean city, a Hidden City as it were.” Shouri grumbled, not a fan of the idea in question.  
  
Rebecca brought the car to a stop and threw it into park. “The GPS insists the town of Loggiavento is here, but I don’t see shit.” She leaned on the steering wheel, still looking around for any signs of life.  
  
“The signal is so bad out here I can’t get anything to load.” Colette complained, trying to load webpages on her tuner.  
  
“Oh, these things have web access?” Shouri noted the feature he wasn’t aware of previously. Checking his own tuner, he discovered it did not in fact have a web browser. “Damn it, should have asked Rose about that.” He himself groused in hindsight.  
  
“Priorities…” Blakki snickered to herself at her maestro’s mild complaint.  
  
The driver of the group meticulously scanned the sand-scape looking for any other kind of landmark, when her eyes fell upon the cave and path once more. “Hey, there’s a sign near that path.” Rebecca pointed out, having missed it previously.  
  
“Well I don’t have telescopic vision.” Shouri opened the door to the car. “Gonna go check it out.” He told the group. Blakki nodded and opened her door as well. Rebecca looked to her maestro who gave a short, confirming nod. Turning off the car, the other pair got out of the vehicle. Four car doors closed and the group made their way over to the sign in question.  
  
It was well worn, probably having been standing watch in this lot for some time now.  
  
“Loggiavento long term parking – Free  
Covering recommended”  
  
The four teens stared at the sign for a moment before turning to each other.  
  
“Well, this is it.” Colette said simply, arms akimbo.  
  
Rebecca spun around slowly. “Nice town. Prime tourist hot-spot I see.” The fire resonator laughed mockingly at the desolate desert around them.  
  
Blakki caught sight of another sign down the path leading up to the cave and began wordlessly walking in that direction. Shouri caught this and followed his resonator up the path.  
  
“Ventallo Cave, path to Loggiavento  
Hikers beware of Scherzando.”  
  
Colette and Rebecca joined the other pair at the second sign.  
  
“The plot thickens.” Shouri stated simply, staring at the sign.  
“But it says there’s scherzando in the cave.” Blakki looked to her maestro.  
  
“Ah, Rubato crystals must grow here.”  
  
The other-worldly pair turned to their guides.  
  
“Rubato crystals are basically crystalized rhythm. They’re found all over the world, deep underground and in ancient burial sites. They’re named after the Rubato modifier because they can be used freely just like a resonator can freely use a maestro’s rhythm if they cast a spell in Rubato.” Colette explained for the culturally ignorant duo.  
  
Shouri nodded. “I get it. Because the rocks are rhythm, they attract scherzando.” He said simply, turning back to the cave. “Cute.” Was his final comment on the situation, which oozed annoyance.  
  
“I’m sure they’re not that bad… right?” Blakki looked to their guides once more hopefully.  
  
Colette shook her head. “No… it’ll be just as bad as that raid. I’m not sure it’s wise to keep going.” She frowned. It was obvious to see that their current projected path was making the native maestro nervous.  
  
“How far does this path go? We unlocked Fortissimo and Lento spells yesterday.” Shouri told the other pair.  
  
This took Colette and Rebecca by surprise. “Wait what?” Colette spoke up first. “Like multiple?” Rebecca chimed in for further clarification.  
  
“Like all of them.” Shouri replied.  
  
The wind howled down the mountains as the quartet stood in silence for a moment. “Prove it.” Colette challenged the claim.  
  
With a shrug, Shouri pulled his tuner from his side, flipped over to the spells and handed the device to Colette. After reading the list for a moment she grimaced in disgust and toss the device back. “Fucking cheater I swear.” She growled, walking a few steps away from the group. Turning back around, she sighed loudly before addressing her traveling companions.  
  
“I guess since we have access to that now, I guess we can make the trip.” She stated begrudgingly. “I’ll be your back-up, since Fortissimo spells can be expensive long term; and utilizing Rebecca sparingly. Is that fair?”  
  
Shouri looked to Blakki who could only offer a shrug. “Works for me I guess.” He decided on.  
  
With the deliberation out of the way, the group entered the murky depths of the cave. The ambient light from the outside quickly faded as they walked further into the abyss. It wasn’t totally dark however: Small crystals sprouted from the ground in shades of red, blue, and yellow that produced a small amount of light.  
  
The darkness of the cave seemed to consume the little light that these crystals produced however. Blakki and Shouri had little difficulty in the low light environment due to their own element, so they continued walking forward.  
  
“Fuoco Fatuo, Tenuto.”  
  
Before Blakki and Shouri could look back, a sudden light filled their small section of cave they were in. The source of the light was a small ball of bright fire that hovered near Rebecca.  
  
“It’s a simple utility spell.” Colette smiled.  
  
Shouri raised an eyebrow. “Is that gonna be too much of a drain?” He questioned.  
  
The other maestro waved it off. “Nah, this thing takes less rhythm than a Pianissimo spell. Its better that we’re able to see any scherzando on our way.” She pointed out. Shouri pondered that thought for a moment. He was able to see perfectly fine, probably thanks to Blakki. He shrugged and turned to continue walking.  
  
“So, what’s even the story of this cave anyways?” Shouri asked as they walked along.  
  
“Dunno, hopefully it’s not natural so we’re not wandering through a complex cave system.” Colette replied.  
  
“Why don’t you know about this cave?”  
“What do you think I know everything? I’m not an encyclopedia.”  
“Hah, some tour guide you are.”  
“Ass.”  
  
Colette pouted, glaring at Shouri from behind. She looked away indignantly, and voiced her irritation. “I didn’t even know this town existed, it’s kinda unreasonable for you to think I’d-” And while she wasn’t looking, she ran straight into Shouri’s back.  
  
“Hey what’s-?!” She peered around the stopped resonator and maestro. A couple of scherzando stood in their path. From the elements it appeared they were dealing with a Lunar and a couple of earth element enemies.  
  
Naturally Blakki stepped forward to face the enemies. Rebecca also re-positioned herself, taking a spot in front of the two maestros, just in case their enemies flanked their side’s vanguard. Shouri took out his tuner and glanced over his spell-list. He couldn’t tell at a glance how powerful these scherzando were, especially since they were in a place that was a natural food source for the soulless creatures.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Pianissimo Staccato; pepper them down.” Shouri began.  
  
Blakki nodded and utilized the tactic she had used against the opposing maestro from the other day. She created numerous balls of lunar energy and threw one after another at the group of scherzando. The slower earth-elementals were quickly dispatched of. The Lunar enemy however, managed to weave through the attacks and charged.  
  
“Mente Offuscata, Fortissimo!”  
  
A large flash of light came from the scherzando’s head, stunning it. Colette quickly grabbed Shouri’s tuner hand, realizing he was breaking out the big guns.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
Colette’s eyes went wide as the rhythm was violently ripped from her body. “GAH!” She screamed, stumbling a bit in place. THAT was a forte spell?! She was scared to think what a fortissimo spell felt like.  
  
Blakki meanwhile threw the large ball of lunar energy at the stunned lunar scherzando, vaporizing it instantly. With the immediate threat out of the way, the resonator turned back to her comrades. Rebecca was knelt down next to Colette, with Shouri watching next to them, arms folded across his chest.  
  
“Is she okay?” The fox-girl frowned, walking back to the group.  
  
Colette coughed a bit and looked up, there was an obvious sweat on her face. “Just peachy.” The girl groaned through staggered breath.  
  
“What me to try a Fortissimo spell next?” Shouri asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
“Fuck you.” The other maestro spat.  
  
The boy rolled his eyes at the vitriol he was receiving. “No need to get nasty with me; this was _your_ suggestion.”  
  
After a moment of regaining her composure, Colette rose to her feet of her own accord. “I suppose you’re right.” Her voice now even once more. “Let’s keep going.”  
  
Shouri nodded and turned to continue their path onwards.  
  
Blakki and Rebecca watched their maestros continue on, then looked to each other. “She should cut the bravado.” The fire resonator noted.  
  
“I think that’s just a maestro problem.” The lunar resonator tittered quietly.  
  
\---  
  
The group trudged on. No one was counting how much time passed; however, it was significant enough for Colette to call for a break.  
  
“Let’s stop here.” She said suddenly, wiping the sweat from her brow.  
  
Shouri (jacket now wrapped around his waist) nodded in agreement and came to a stop. “Probably for the best.”  
  
“Quanto tempo ancora?” Blakki complained, also having shed her own jacket from how hot the cave had gotten. She pinched the front of her white t-shirt and moved it back in forth rapidly in a vain attempt to get some air circulating between her fabric and skin.  
  
“I dunno what you just said, but I agree.” Colette sighed, sitting on a nearby rock. Rebecca was the only one seemingly unhindered by the heat.  
  
The fire resonator frowned, looking at the worn group. “I guess I’m in the minority here.” She said simply.  
  
After their brief reprieve, the group carried on. However, the peace wouldn’t last. Blakki and Rebecca’s ears twitched. The two resonators stopped and looked back.  
  
“Sho.”  
“Colette.”  
  
The maestros both stopped and looked back at their respective resonators “Hm?” Shouri raised an eyebrow.  
  
“We’re being followed.” Blakki kept her gaze fixated on the dark passage behind them.  
  
Colette nodded. “Fuoco Fatuo, Tenuto.”  
  
Rebecca created a second ball of fire and ushered it down the cave path. As the orb of fire made its way down the hallway, it illuminated the couple dozen scherzando which stood in place.  
  
The group collectively paled. Colette stepped backwards first. Shouri stood on the tips of his toes, slowly turning his feet in the opposite direction. The scherzando simply waited, even revealed the large group of beasts were undeterred.  
  
“Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto!” Colette shouted suddenly, as if an invisible starting gun had been fired. A wall of fire separated the group from their enemies. Wasting no time, the four turned and fled further into the cave. Looking back, they could see some of the scherzando using their bodies as a bridge to allow their comrades to cross over the flames.  
  
“Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto!”  
“Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto!”  
“Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto!”  
  
The fire maestro frenziedly repeated their fire wall spell, casting newer walls as the scherzando threw themselves through each successive roadblock.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Pianissimo Staccato!”  
  
Blakki fell back a bit and began chucking small orbs of lunar energy as the advancing stampede of scherzando. The impediments were doing their job, as the horde was starting to thin out. After what felt like an eternity, the pursuers were trimmed down to around three or four scherzando.  
  
“Sotto! Luce Lunare, Forte Staccatissimo!”  
  
The lunar resonator skidded to a stop and made two large balls of lunar energy. She waited for the scherzando to jump, then threw the first ball, evaporating two of them in the process. The final two made their attempt, attempting to go two for four, Blakki threw the second ball of energy. The first of the remaining pair was taken out with ease, however the second one managed to dodge.  
  
“Bolide, Piano!”  
  
A ball of fire engulfed the final enemy, causing it to slam into the ground. The four teens held their breath, waiting for the enemy to dissipate. After another figurative eternity, the flames vanished into the air revealing their foe had indeed been taken out by the final attack.  
  
“Holy shit!” Colette fell to her knees, desperately trying to catch her breath.  
  
“Mai di nuovo…” Blakki panted, pressing her back against a nearby wall.  
  
Shouri watched the sweat drip down from his face to the ground as he held himself up by his knees. “Yeah, fuck that.”  
  
“Nice hot shower tonight, that’s what I’m gonna do.” Rebecca wiped the sweat from her brow.  
  
\---  
  
Not wanting to spend any further time in the hell cave, the quartet picked up their pace despite the protests of their aching bodies. Their accelerated stride would slow to a halt when they felt a sudden breeze down the tunnel.  
  
“Okay, was that just wind, or I was imagining that?” Rebecca asked the group.  
“Could be a solar resonator, they’ve got wind spells.” Colette pointed out.  
“I’m going to go with mass hallucination.” Shouri chimed in.  
“I don’t think that’s how that works.” Blakki chuckled to herself.  
  
Deciding to get their horrible fate over with, they proceeded forward. Within minutes natural light began overtaking the fire-light they were using to navigate the cave.  
  
The warmth nearly overtook the group as they stepped out into the sunlight. A soft breeze greeted the four teens to their new surroundings. Red clay cliffs surrounded them; arid, dry grass flanked the path down to what appeared to be a small settlement.  
  
“Finally, out of the hell cave.” Shouri stretched out, and exhaling in relief.  
  
Blakki smiled at her maestro. “Thank you Sho.” She spoke sweetly.  
  
He looked to his resonator, perplexed. “Why are you thanking me? If anything, I should be thanking you for doing all the fighting.”  
  
This didn’t deter the young fox-girl however. “Well thank you for the rhythm so I could protect you.” She decided on.  
  
Shouri closed his eyes and chuckled to himself. “Fine, you want to play it that way?” He turned to his partner and opened his eyes. “Thank you for being there.” He gave her such an honest, grateful smile, that it disarmed her. She stared at him awestruck, face totally red as he turned and began walking down the path.  
  
Colette had no commentary for the situation, and merely followed the other maestro down the path towards town.  
  
“You two really need to save it for the bedroom.” Rebecca teased.  
  
Blakki turned to her fellow resonator. “S-save WHAT for the bedroom?!” She demanded.  
  
The fire resonator continued her own giggle fit. “Oh you know, what boys and girls do when they’re all alone.”  
  
Poor, defenseless Blakki turned tomato red as she rapidly shook her head. “N-NO! SHO AND I AREN’T LIKE THAT!” She yelped.  
  
The other girl’s smirk faded from her face. “Wait, really?” She asked.  
  
“N-no…” The lunar fox looked down the path. “Though… I really want to be.” She sighed forlornly.  
  
Rebecca sighed, her previous mischievous grin fading away and being replaced by a far more serious and grim expression. “Figures, that’s how it always ends up.”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
“Well, in this world they’re very careful to make sure a maestro’s first resonator is the same gender. Harder for them to catch feelings.”  
  
The concept was still confusing to Blakki. “Why is that a problem? I mean… I feel like I fight harder for Sho because-” She gulped and looked down the path once more to confirm where Shouri was. “-I love him.” She spoke quieter.  
  
Another loud sigh from Rebecca. “Blakki, we’re tools remember? We’re just a sword for our maestros to wield. If the sword is dulled or unfit for the maestro, they’ll simply pick up a new sword.”  
  
Blakki just stared in shock at what Rebecca had just said. She shook her head and glared at the other resonator. “B-but you and Colette-!”  
  
The fire resonator shook her head and offered a piteous smile. “I love her with all my heart and I've always dreamed of being something more. But at the end of the day, I’m still just her resonator; a weapon for her to use to protect herself.” Rebecca began to walk away. “I won’t ever be anything more than that, no matter how much I try.”  
  
This left the black-tailed fox girl all alone outside the cave entrance. She trembled, nearly on the point of tears. “…this is wrong. This whole world is wrong.” Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke to herself. The more she learned about the world she was born in, the less she wanted to be there.


	36. Chapter 36

The group of four made their way into the small settlement nestled among the mountains. The homes appeared to be in an older style, reminiscent of pueblos. Obviously, an older town. Despite the rustic appearance of the infrastructure, one could spot signs of civilization. Electrical wires ran from home to home. In the distance what appeared to be a tiny airport sat just on the edge of the usable land.  
  
Curious young eyes glanced around, taking in the sights of the strange little town. The town was far from abandoned, in fact it was surprisingly busy despite its location and relative size. People went about their business, most appeared to have some kind of craft. Basket weaving, pottery, and even strange medicines were some of the products being sold or traded as the group made their way through the town.  
  
“Where are we going?” Blakki chimed in from the back, having caught up with the group after leveling out her own emotions.  
  
“Biggest house in town, should be near the center or so.” Colette replied, glancing back at the resonator for a moment before refocusing her efforts into locating the home in question.  
  
Rebecca pointed to their right. “You think that’s it?”  
  
Sure enough, standing above the other structures in town was a large pueblo, it was unique in the fact that it had multiple stories, where none of the other dwellings seemed to have this feature. They turned in that direction and navigated through the footpaths. As they approached their destination, another oddity made itself present. The electrical wires that went from the various other buildings in the village all connected to the large building in question.  
  
The quartet looked up at the home that stood before them. "This should be it; according to what Rose said, this pueblo belongs to Master Noir.” Shouri said to the group, remaining focused on the practical mansion before them.  
  
“You sure this is it and not a power plant?” Colette asked.  
  
Shouri shrugged. “Dunno, one way to find out.” Without much thought of tact or manners, he grabbed the door knob and turned it, revealing it was in fact, unlocked.  
  
He looked back at the three girls who simply returned perplexed expressions. With a shrug he pushed the door open. The group walked into the house. Inside they heard a very relaxing melody playing. There was a piano on the far end of the room, where there was a figure sitting at and playing said piano.  
  
The only features they could make out from this angle was a blue dress jacket with a white collar and short, neatly kept, black hair.  
  
“Uhhh...” Shouri knocked on the door they had opened.  
  
The player of the piano ceased their performance.  
  
“...It's rude to interrupt a musical piece.” The owner of the piano spoke. He turned to the group. “Do you perhaps, have a death wish?” A sudden sharp pressure assailed the group. It lasted only for a moment though. Colette noticed during this instant a sort of color that emanated from each of their forms.  
  
Yellow for herself and Shouri; blue from Blakki; and red from Rebecca.  
  
The man before them was no older than twenty, but carried a presence that simply oozed authority and wisdom. “Dear me.” He pulled off his glasses, which were now cracked. “I do hope you plan on replacing these for me.” He said, rubbing the cracked lens on his yellow cravat, which he tucked back into his green dress shirt.  
  
“It would be the least you could do for me after your instruction.”  
  
The group of four stood in awe of the rhythm master before them. He was twenty times their age, and seemed to practice his craft to perfection. Just by him merely asking a question of them radiated an intense pressure that was almost suffocating.  
  
“Come in and close the door, you're letting the air conditioning out.” The man scolded them instantly.  
  
Snapping out of their trance the group began to scurry around, with Shouri finally closing the door behind them. “S-sorry.” He apologized on behalf of the group.  
  
Adjusting his cravat, the man took inventory of the group. “You are the group Rose described. A boy with an other-worldly scent, a girl who got a bit too nosy, and a pair of vixens.” The man said. “I am Noir, inheritor of the master's Rhythm,” he stated, pushing his glasses up a bit.  
  
“What shall I call all of you?” Noir asked.  
  
“Colette Severine, this is my resonator Rebecca.”  
“I'm Shouri.”  
“Blakki, his partner”  
  
“Hmm...” The rhythm master looked over the group, studying them like one would examine a product they were interested in. “First, let me see your tuners.” Noir spoke up after making his decision.  
  
The two maestros looked to each other. Neither one wanted to hand theirs over, but decided this would go nowhere otherwise and hesitantly drew out their tuners. Colette presented hers first. Not wanting to be the difficult one, Shouri held his tuner out as well, but was clearly more uncomfortable with doing this.  
  
Noir carefully took the two devices with his white-gloved hands. “Hmm, pretty average, nothing too special.” He commented, examining Colette’s tuner like a jeweler would look over a precious stone. The red-haired maestro wilted at this comment, looking away in shame of the analysis. Noir would do the same for Shouri’s tuner, looking over every little part of the device “Dohoho… This is quite the treat. Not often you see someone so hardened at your age.”  
  
Rather than returning the devices to their owners however, the ethereal pocketed the two tuners. “I'll be keeping these.” Noir voiced his intentions immediately.  
  
“What!?” Both maestros immediately took exception to his and glared daggers at the man.  
  
Noir smirked, looking down on the pair. “Care to try and take them back from me?” He asked, his voice simply oozing arrogance.  
  
The pair immediately faltered. Shouri gulped, there was suddenly an incredible aura being radiated from Noir at this point. He felt a tug on his jacket and looked back. Blakki stared pleadingly at him and held her throat with her other hand. “S-sho... I can't breathe...” Glancing over at Rebecca showed she seemed to be struggling in a similar fashion. Colette remained speechless, unsure of what to do.  
  
Gritting his teeth, he swallowed his pride and turned to the rhythm master. “F-fine, we'll comply. For now.”  
  
“Excellent.”  
  
Immediately the pressure in the room faded away. Rebecca stumbled a bit and held herself up on her maestro. “Don’t do that again please.” She managed to get out while catching her breath.  
  
Satisfied her resonator was no longer dying, Colette turned to Noir. “So now what?”  
  
“We talk. What can you do for me to train you?” The man asked, taking a seat back at his piano once more.  
  
Blakki raised an eyebrow, perplexed. “Che?”  
  
Her maestro narrowed his eyes in irritation, he knew exactly where this conversation was going. “He intends on using us as cheap labor.”  
  
“I want something you're good at, so it will be easy for you.” Noir mused, leaning back on his precious piano.  
  
The group remained silent for a moment, mulling over how to answer their new teacher's question. “Well, I guess Rebecca and I can do something with fire.” Colette offered.  
  
Noir looked over at the pair, pondering that thought. “Hmm…” He waved a hand in the air, and the door to the backyard opened. Chest-high tall grass immediately greeted their vision. It was nearby impossible to see past the invasive plants. “The lawn could use some trimming. Though I would caution you to be careful, it’s a bit resilient.” With another wave of his hand the door was closed, and he looked to the two girls for their answer.  
  
Rebecca smirked smugly. “Heh, you think some dry ass grass is really going to be able to stand up to my fire?”  
  
The ethereal's lips turned back up into a smug smirk once more. “We will see tomorrow, shall we little ember?”  
  
The fire resonator gulped; she didn’t like how he had said that. Noir however, was ready to move on. “And you two?”  
  
Shouri shrugged, adding in a sad chuckle. “Unless you need a medic, we’re not going to be much help.” He put his hands in his jacket pockets. “Maybe we can sweep the floors?” The boy asked sarcastically. Before he could quip about being a talent-less high-school graduate, Noir beat him to the punch:  
  
“Nonsense, you’re an excellent chef.”  
  
Once more, Blakki was absolutely confused. Since when could Shouri cook? She had never seen him cook before. Every meal he “prepared” had been something pre-fabricated or they ate out. The only time the resonator recalled eating any home made food since being in her maestro’s care was always made by someone else.  
  
“H-how do you… know that?”  
  
The lunar fox looked to her maestro, who was completely pale, and had even taken a step backwards.  
  
Noir chuckled. “Dear boy, rhythm is your soul. Your soul is the summation of everything that makes up your conscious and psyche. To me, you’re nothing more than a book on a shelf.”  
  
Shouri didn’t have any kind of rebuttal to that. He felt violated in a sense. As such, he stood there, just staring at the violator in question, who stared back at them with an amused smirk.  
  
“Perhaps you have an aversion to cooking because it was Lina’s dream-”  
“SHUT-UP!”  
  
The ethereal's expression didn’t change. “Touched a nerve, did I?”  
  
Glaring through his tears, the boy trembled and struggled to keep himself from doing something he'd regret. “I’ll fuckin’ cook for you, just not another word.” He growled, struggling to keep his voice even.  
  
The rhythm master simply made an OK with his fingers. “You all have been walking all day.” He looked to Colette and Rebecca. “You two may take a shower. You’ll find some robes upstairs so you may also wash your clothes.”  
  
Rebecca and Colette exchanged uneasy glances, before just doing what the rhythm master had suggested and walked to the stairs.  
  
“What, no showers for us?” Shouri asked, still glaring at the ethereal.  
  
Noir stood up. “I doubt you would want to considering you’ll be working.”  
  
\---  
  
 _“Do you like it?”  
“I’m glad.”  
“If I can teach you, then I’ll know I truly understand cooking.”  
“You did it! It came out perfect!”  
_  
Shouri stared at the stove that sat proudly in front of him. It looked nearly brand new. In fact, upon closer inspection, it appeared that there was some of the protective, plastic film remaining on some of the surfaces of the stove.  
  
“Is it to your liking, Mr. Tomoshibi?” He could hear Noir ask from behind him.  
  
The maestro mulled that thought over. “Ethereals really don’t need to eat, huh?”  
  
“It’s optional for us. Rich memories build the soul, and act as kindling material for your rhythm. The hustle and bustle of a restaurant is a practical lumber yard of experiences.”  
  
The younger boy nodded slowly. “I can tell. You’ve maybe used this stove once or twice. The utensils are too neat, they don’t show any sign of wear.” He turned to the rhythm master, who wore a thin, approving smile.  
  
“You’re a master of your own craft.”  
“It’s not mine. Stop prying where you don’t belong.”  
  
Noir adjusted his glasses. “I cannot help what my eyes see, however, I will respect your wish for privacy and cease bringing it up.” He turned and took a couple of steps towards the edge of the kitchen. “You will find this particular experience enriching.” And with that, the ethereal departed the room entirely, leaving Shouri, and his quiet, though ever-present resonator.  
  
Blakki watched as her maestro looked around the kitchen. He was muttering things to himself as he moved about. After making a decision, un-prepped food was roomed from their resting places and set aside. The poor girl was lost and wondered what her part in this would be. Noir made it quite obvious that Rebecca and Colette would work together outside, so what could Blakki possibly do in here? She had no skills to speak of except being a healer.  
  
Her ears twitched as Shouri began to grumble about something. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked to her partner who stood arms akimbo, frowning hard at the oven. “Hrm… This stove doesn’t even work.”  
  
He grabbed the sides of the huge appliance and pulled it out from its resting place between the two counters that flanked it on either side. Blakki winced, holding her ears as this act generated a loud screech as the metal feet dragged against the ground. Once it was a distance away from the wall, he leaned on one of the adjacent counters and looked behind the stove. “It doesn’t plug into the wall? No, it doesn’t have any plug at all.” He questioned, utterly baffled at design of the device.  
  
Pushing it back into place caused a significant amount of noise as well earning another flinch and covering of the ears from the fox-girl. “Fuck, I don’t know how to use this thing.” He examined the stove closer. One thing stood out. A pair of small handles, separate from the oven door, they didn’t attach to anything that could be pulled from it and as a result, seemed to serve no actual function.  
  
“Wait a minute…”  
  
Blakki blinked as he turned to her. “Che c'è, Sho?” She asked uneasily.  
  
“I think this stupid thing needs a resonator to work.”  
“B-but I’m not a lightning resonator”  
“I have a nasty feeling this thing works regardless of your element. That nosy bird wouldn’t have made this our task otherwise.”  
  
The lunar-elemental raised an eyebrow. “Bird?”  
  
“He’s yappy and annoying like a bird.” Shouri mumbled, glaring at the doorway Noir had departed from.  
  
“Whatever you say Sho…” Blakki laughed nervously, hoping that rhythm didn’t give the ethereal super hearing as well. “What do you need me to do?” She asked, attempting to get them back on track.  
  
The maestro pondered that thought for a moment. The only thing that stood out where the two small handles that ran perpendicular to the oven handle. The material the grips on these seemingly vestigial handles were also strangely smooth but seemed to have some interior workings that one could barely make out, like some kind of other-worldly solar sensor.  
  
“Grab these.” He told her.  
  
The girl nodded and stood in front of the stove, placing one hand around each handle.  
  
“Who fucking designed this shit?!” Shouri complained loudly from behind her.  
  
“Eh?” She turned her head back.  
  
“This puts you completely in the way of the cooking area!” He pointed out.  
  
Blakki’s gaze fell to the stove surface in front of her. That was a good observation. Her standing like this meant she would be totally blocking Shouri from being able to cook. “Maybe I can move out of the way?” She suggested.  
  
Shouri mulled that though over. “Maybe. Let’s try it.” He grabbed a pot and filled it with water. Moving over to the stove, he set it on one of the burners and adjusted the appropriate knob. Blakki grabbed the two handles on the stove. Immediately she felt a draw on her body as the heating element began to glow red.  
  
“Let go of it.”  
  
The girl nodded and released the dual grips. The heating element slowly faded back to black, and with it the heat vanished. The maestro frowned, shaking his head. “No, looks like you have to keep holding it.”  
  
“My body felt weird when I was touching the handles.” Blakki noted.  
  
“Define.”  
“It’s hard to describe, like my body was being pulled towards the stove, but not my actual body.”  
“Ah, so you’re just being used as an adapter for rhythm.”  
“I’m what?”  
  
“You’re converting my rhythm into power the stove can use to heat things. The rhythm flows from me to you, and then the stove.” Shouri clarified for his confused resonator. He looked the girl up and down for a moment. “You’re pretty small, I could probably work around you.” The boy noted.  
  
The fox-girl nodded hesitantly. “Whatever you think Sho.”  
  
\---  
  
Blakki stood in front of the stove, the heat radiating from the element in front of her. The bubbling of the boiling water and sound of vegetables being chopped from behind her being the soundtrack to her thoughts right now.  
  
All she had to do was focus on the stove and it would remain lit. It was an easy, menial task. It felt extraordinarily over-engineered though. Why would a resonator need to stand at a stove for the maestro to cook? Rhythm could be sent over air without such a physical link. Why was this necessary then?  
  
Shouri popped around, dropping some chopped food into the boiling water, which snapped her out of her thoughts. “This shouldn’t take too long.” He told her. She replied with a slow nod. Once more Shouri departed, leaving her alone with her thoughts.  
  
This experience wasn’t familiar to her. So she herself wasn’t a chef or used by one in her past life. It brought up all kinds of questions about who she was. The girl was frustrated as on one hand she was morbidly curious at the life she had left behind here, but on the other hand, she just wanted to ignore it and go back with Shouri to his world; their world.  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted again by Shouri’s re-appearance by the stove. “Hrmmm…” She looked over to his hard frown. There was a pile of red meat on a plate. “If we ever find out who designed this thing, I’m gonna kick their ass.” He grumbled. The boy departed again, but before Blakki could get back into her own head, he came back and set a couple of frying pans on currently unused heating elements.  
  
She watched him pour a little oil into the two pans, and then turn on their respective burners. More heat washed over her form as they came to life. Shouri stepped back, holding a spatula in his hand. He glared at the set-up once more. “Fine, whatever…” He grumbled. Blakki didn’t know what he was talking about until he stood behind her. Immediately her face turned bright red as he began to stir the boiling vegetables and then moved the raw meat onto the frying pans.  
  
“Sh-sho?”  
“Hm?”  
  
They stood there for a moment as the meat began to sizzle in the heated oils.  
  
“A-are you gonna cook like this?”  
“Yeah. No choice unless you want to eat some charred beef.”  
  
The girl lowered her gaze again this time in an attempt to hide her reddening face. He was right up against her back. All he had to do was close his arms and she’d be in his embrace, which made her a bit happy; but she was paranoid about people walking in and getting the wrong idea. Instead, she tried to focus on his technique. The way he moved the food around, it was practiced, masterful even.  
  
As the meal rapidly approached completion, it became a feast for the senses. The presentation was shaping up beautifully, and the scents were heavenly. The entire time, Shouri never once hesitated or second guessed what he was doing. It looked like it was almost monotonous for him.  
  
“Alright we’re done.” He spoke up suddenly, stepping away from her. Releasing the grips killed the heat once again.  
  
Blakki moved out of her maestro’s way and watched him plate the completed food. “I’m assuming you enjoyed that.” He commented.  
  
“Ch-che? Why do you say that?”  
“Your tail kept hitting my legs.”  
  
The poor girl turned ghost white, looking absolutely mortified. Shouri merely snickered which quickly became full-blown laughter.  
  
“D-d… Dacci un taglio! Sho!”  
  
\---  
  
Blakki looked on helplessly. She gulped as Noir brought the first piece of food to his mouth. Taking the initial bite, he chewed the food. He set down his fork and folded his hands. “Excellent Mr. Tomoshibi. Those hands are meant to craft an exquisite experience. To deny the world such pleasure is simply unacceptable, don’t you agree?”  
  
The boy, sitting with his legs crossed and an arm around the back of the dining room chair scoffed at the appraisal of his skills. “That was amateur at best.”  
  
“What a master sees as flawed, the world revels in its beauty.” Noir countered with a smirk.  
  
Colette and Rebecca, dressed in robes, looked down at their food. “So, uhhh… can we eat now?” The fire resonator asked.  
  
“Please.” The ethereal motioned to the remainder of the table to consume their food.  
  
The other two girls at the table began consuming their food. Upon taking the first bites, their eyes went wide and both girls began voraciously devouring the meal that had been presented to them. Blakki just stared. Even the normally mild-mannered Colette was eating as if she hadn’t eaten in days. The fox-girl cut off a piece of meat and took her own sampling of it.  
  
Her eyes opened wide as well. The meat was soft and flavorful; the temperature was perfect. Warm and inviting. She looked up to Shouri who was examining his own fingernails, totally apathetic to the situation. The fox-girl just couldn’t understand why he would hide such a talent, even going as far as to actively avoid any form of cooking.  
  
\---  
  
Blakki stared at herself blankly in the bathroom mirror. The way Shouri had reacted earlier, he was visibly upset when Noir had mentioned his ability to cook.  
  
 _“Perhaps you have an aversion to cooking because it was Lina’s dream-”  
  
_ Who was Lina? It didn’t make any sense to the girl. She sighed and took off her jacket. She folded it neatly and laid it on the counter. Sitting down on the toilet, she began to pull off her socks to prepare to take a shower.  
  
Her ears twitched as she heard someone approach. She ignored it and neatly placed her socks next to her jacket. Standing up once more, she reached behind her back and unbuttoned the tail hole of her pants. Just as she unzipped and unbuttoned the front of her pants, the door to the bathroom quickly opened and shut.  
  
“Eh?”  
  
Confused blue and emerald eyes stared from opposite sides of the room at each other. A pair of healthy teens stood frozen in place, processing what exactly was happening.   
  
“Oh shit!” Shouri turned to leave the bathroom, but a swift click of the door’s lock stopped this. “Noir!” He roared, pounding on the door.  
  
“Now now children, Rebecca and Colette took a shower together without issue.”  
“They’re both girls!”  
“That’s not very progressive of you Mr. Tomoshibi.”  
“Progressive!? Who gives a fuck about that?! What about Blakki’s feelings!?”  
“Take your damn shower, it would be far less enjoyable for either of you without you being there!”  
  
Turning around, he nervously turned his gaze towards Blakki. She had bit her bottom lip which was trembling. Her face was entirely red as she held her pants up, the securing mechanisms of which having already been undone.  
  
He adverted his gaze. “He… told me the bathroom was vacant…” Shouri muttered quietly.  
  
“I, er, uh…” She pulled her pants up higher. “I… don’t really mind if it’s you.” She squeaked out quietly.  
  
“Oh.”  
  
An awkward silence fell on the bathroom.  
  
Blakki’s face grew redder as she realized what she had even said. Instead of back-pedaling however, she tried to explain her thought process. “I er! It’s because I- uhm well you see I… You’re my maestro! And I’m your resonator sooo er! That’s why!” And failed dramatically.  
  
Another silence followed.  
  
Shouri took a deep breath and exhaled. “I just figured it out.” He spoke up suddenly.  
  
“Eh?”  
  
He walked towards Blakki, who began to tremble. The girl gulped and closed her eyes, wondering what was about to happen.  
  
“Ah I knew it.”  
  
The girl opened her eyes. Shouri was over in another part of the bathroom. There was a small closet he had opened. Inside the closet was a large, cylindrical machine, with a pair of handles on it. “It’s like the oven.” He avoided looking directly at the girl he was sharing the bathroom with. “Go ahead and take a shower. I won’t look.”  
  
The young vixen bit her bottom lip again, lowering her head slightly. “B-but maybe I want you to…” She muttered under her breath.  
  
“Hm?” He looked over.  
  
“Er! I said what about a change of clothes!?”  
  
The maestro nodded and looked around himself. After a moment or two of opening random cabinets, he discovered a small cache of bath robes, just like the ones Rebecca and Colette were wearing at dinner.  
  
“It’s been awhile since we’ve washed our clothes, so this will be a nice reprieve.” Was his comment as he draped one of the robes over the curtain rod for the implied first occupant of the shower. The boy snapped his fingers. “Ah, a towel.” He nodded. Another search began. Blakki stood there, still holding her pants up, blood continuing to rush through her face.  
  
 _“I love her with all my heart and I've always dreamed of being something more.”_  
  
Shouri walked by and threw a towel over the robes set aside for Blakki. “Okay, got you a towel and some robes to change into. I’ll be in this corner, making sure you have hot water.” He told his resonator.  
  
 _“But at the end of the day, I’m still just her resonator; a weapon for her to use to protect herself.”_  
  
She hung her head as he walked over to the corner in question, out of sight. The lunar resonator silently disrobed and stepped into the shower. She turned the knob, and allowed the water to flow over her, being very careful to conceal her quiet sobs with the noise of the water.  
  
 _“I won’t ever be anything more than that, no matter how much I try.”_


	37. Chapter 37

_“Such a mistake.”  
“What good are you even for?”  
“Why are you still around?”  
“You’re just a burden”  
“Just a waste of money.”  
“Can you hurry up and die already?”  
  
“I won't kill you. But I won't have you in my house anymore.”  
  
_Blakki laid in bed, staring at the wall next to her. She had been laying there fading in and out of consciousness for some time. Feelings from a distance time and place dredged up by her current mental state.  
  
Shouri entered the bedroom they had been provided. He placed their neatly folded clothes on the desk that sat on the opposite end of the room. Seeing his partner’s back towards him, the boy smiled slightly. She must have been exhausted from the long day they had. He couldn’t blame her for passing out right after her shower.  
  
The lunar resonator continued to stare blankly at the spot her eyes rested on as the lights in the room were cut off. The bed moved slightly as a second occupant joined her. No further movements or gestures of any kind were made.  
  
\---  
  
“Hey have you seen Blakki?” Shouri asked Colette and Rebecca the following morning.  
  
The pair of college students, who had been enjoying their morning coffee coupled with the piano playing in the background looked to each other, then Shouri. “No, we haven’t.” Colette replied.  
  
“What happened?” Rebecca asked before taking another sip of the warm, energy giving liquid.  
  
The boy frowned hard, he walked over to the door, where all of their shoes had been placed nearby. Blakki’s well-worn sneakers were notably missing. He slipped his feet into his own shoes, crushing the backs of them, but quickly pivoting his feet to fix them. “Dunno.” He replied as he did this. “We took a shower last night and then this morning she was just gone.”  
  
“That’s not good. I wonder why she would have ran off.” Colette stood up from the table. Rebecca quietly pondered that thought herself, but remained seated. As the maestro moved towards the door to grab her own shoes, she noted her own resonator was not following.  
  
“Rebecca?”  
“Hm?”  
“You coming?”  
“Oh yes.”  
  
The group of three quickly left the home they were staying in and stood outside. It was early morning but the heat was already marking its terrain like a beast. “Shouri I think you should look that way.” Colette pointed to the north-eastern portion of town. She moved her arm to point South-east. “I’ll go that way.” One more rotation due south west. “Rebecca you check out that part of town. We’ll meet back here in a couple of hours?”  
  
Shouri nodded. “Sounds good.” Colette could sense the slightest tinge of fear in his voice. He was trying to remain calm but just on the brink of failing.  
  
The trio split up and went to search their assigned areas.  
  
An hour of searching passed, with nothing fruitful. Shouri’s heart had been racing the entire time as he desperately looked around for his partner. Why was she doing this? Not only did they apparently have the government after them, but also people in this world were just as bad as his own world in terms of how they judged people.  
  
“Shouri!”  
  
The boy looked up, to see Colette waving to him. Looking around, they were both in a market near the tiny airport that connected the isolated town to the rest of the world. He must have wandered too far south. They met near a large plane that sat on the tarmac. It seemed there was very loose security around the airport in question since not many planes came and went.  
  
The market was right on the airport property probably because transporting goods through the city would be too costly in such a remote, isolated town.  
  
“I’m assuming you hadn’t had too much luck in finding her?” Colette asked  
“No. Since she isn’t with you I guess we’re hedging our bets with Rebecca.” Shouri replied.  
  
CRACK BOOOOOM  
  
Suddenly hysteria and panic. A large bolt of lightning struck the nearby plane, causing all of the townsfolk who had gathered to begin rushing about in absolute terror of the sudden lighting. Shouri and Colette got separated in the jostling, violent crowd.  
  
“Ow!” Shouri yelped as an unexpected, sharp pain hit him in the neck. He instinctively threw his hand at the point of pain and felt a feather and a needle?  
  
Yanking the needle out of his neck felt like a mistake as when he did so, he began to lose his sense of balance and coordination. He stumbled out of the crowd, towards the plane.  
  
Colette caught sight of this. “Shouriiii- Eiyah!” A sting in her neck? Repeating the same motions Shouri had made, she pulled a needle from her own neck. “Uhhh… what?” She gritted her teeth. She flared up her own rhythm internally trying to give herself a boost of energy, but it was getting harder and harder to do so. The maestro broke free from the crowd and stumbled towards where Shouri had been limping to.  
  
Each movement of her body became more and more difficult as the toxin in the needle was doing its apparent job. Her body felt so heavy, and keeping her eyelids from completely closing was a monumental task. She had made it to Shouri, but by this point he was laying on the ground, totally unconscious. The teen fell to her knees. She was losing, but most of all, she was terrified. Despite how fast her heart was beating, her body was shutting down on her. There was nothing she could do. She was powerless. With her last breath she whimpered into the void.   
  
“R-rebecca… help me…”  
  
\---  
  
Resonators were incredibly in-tune with their element. So naturally, a fire resonator thrives in a world of heat and blistering sunshine. In the same respect though, they’d rather not get caught in a torrential rainstorm. All of that being said, young Rebecca was looking at the thick, dark clouds with disdain. “Ugh, damn it.” She complained, heading back towards Noir’s house.  
  
CRACK BOOOOOM  
  
Her head turned towards the direction of the lightning strike. The bolt of lightning seemed to have struck near the airport where the maestros of their group were. “Hope Colette’s on the way back.” The fox-girl’s ears twitched as the distant chaos. Not wanting to get caught in the storm, she picked up her pace.  
  
She arrived back to Noir’s about five minutes later. “I’m back!” She announced to the home. The piano that sat proudly in the main room was playing all on its own, the keys illuminating with wisps of blue, red, and yellow light that pressed down the keys.  
  
The resonator stared at the seemingly self-playing instrument as the lights danced across the keys. A new noise would earn an ear twitch and head turn.  
  
The missing resonator, Blakki, stood on the middle of the staircase, staring at Rebecca with her brows turned up in concern.  
  
“Rebecca?”  
“Blakki?”  
  
The two resonators stared at each other for a moment. “Where were you?” Rebecca decided on. Blakki descended the stairs.  
  
“I went on a walk. Where’s Sho?”  
“We all went looking for you. They should be back soon.”  
  
CRACK BOOOM  
  
The lunar resonator jumped, her face paling slightly. “O-okay…” She gulped, ears folded back and her tail ever so slightly between her legs. Rebecca raised an eyebrow, catching that.  
  
“It looks like it’s gonna fuckin’ storm.” The fire resonator commented, walking over to a couch near the piano and taking a seat.  
  
Blakki nodded and walked over to a loveseat that sat opposite of the couch and took a seat herself. The pair of vixens awaited the return of their precious maestros in silence.  
  
An hour passed. Each clap of thunder caused Blakki to jump or squeak in surprise. Other than the blasts of thunder that reverberated through the town, the only noise was the piano that continued to play its slow, relaxing melody.  
  
Rebecca stood up suddenly. “Alright, what the fuck!?” She barked. Just as she did so, the sky let loose and the sounds of torrential rain greeted their hearing. The fire resonator walked to the front window and looked out it. Nothing but rain. “Where the hell are they?!” She barked angrily in a vain attempt to hide her own rising concern.  
  
“Y-you said they were looking for me, right?” The lunar resonator asked, standing up. Unlike Rebecca, the fear was completely overtaking her voice.  
  
The fire resonator turned to her lunar counterpart. She nodded. “Yeah. We were supposed to meet back here by now.”  
  
Blakki gulped. “Where are they then?”  
  
“Oh? What are you two doing here?”  
  
The fox-girls turned to the third voice. Noir sat at his piano, facing the pair. “I thought you would be out there retrieving them. Surely you can sense something happened.”  
  
Both girls paled. “S-something happened?” Rebecca spoke up first. Out of nowhere, a harsh, humid wind blew through the home. Whipping her head around, she saw Blakki’s back. The black-haired girl’s open jacket whipping in the wind.  
  
“Stupid girl, do you even know where you’re going?”  
  
Rebecca looked back to Noir, who shook his head in pity.  
  
“No, but if Sho’s in trouble, I’ll find him.”  
“Normally I would test that resolve… but their lives are in grave danger.

Blakki turned back. The rhythm master stared back at the two girls; his expression was grim, deadly serious. “Their rhythm weakened, and moved across town, to the west. They vanished past Ventallo Cave.”  
  
CRACK BOOOOOM  
  
Another large bolt of lightning struck nearby. However, this time Blakki didn’t flinch. “Okay. I’ll bring them back.” Without any further hesitation, she walked into the rain.  
  
The fire resonator looked down. She bit her bottom lip. Her element was fire. Walking into the cold rain like that was incredibly unpleasant for her. But even so…  
  
 _“I love him.”  
  
_ Blakki genuinely loved her maestro. She would do anything for him, even walk into a raging thunderstorm that she was clearly afraid of.  
  
 _“I love her with all my heart”  
  
_ Rebecca gritted her teeth and balled up her fists tightly. She loved her own maestro too. How could she even hesitate when Colette was in danger?! Without any further thought or deliberation, the fire resonator ran out in the torrential rain storm.  
  
\---  
  
Drip drip drip  
  
“Nngh…” Cold. Slightly damp. Uncomfortable. What even happened? Shouri opened his eyes slowly. He was laying on a stone floor. Thankfully his limbs appeared to all be intact. The only unusual feeling was a slight pressure around his neck. Tracing his hand down his neck revealed there was some kind of band or collar now wrapped around him. A quick pull of the foreign object delivered a jolt of electricity. Removing his new neck accessory seemed to be out of the question for now.  
  
He attempted to look around, but before he could take in his new surroundings, he noted that several feet away he could see a mess of red hair. His heart sank instantly at the unmoving mass. “Colette!” The boy scrambled over to his fallen traveling companion. “Wake up!” Desperation drenched his voice. Much to his relief, the girl stirred and opened her eyes.  
  
“Uurgh… I feel like shit…” She grumbled. Sitting up, she held her head, a bit on the uncoordinated side. “Where are we?” The female maestro asked, taking a good look around herself.  
  
Satisfied Colette was ok for the moment, Shouri took stock of where they were. It was a small stone prison cell. No bed, not even a toilet or even anything to sit on. The only thing of note were the thick iron bars that prevented their immediate escape.  
  
“Dohoho… Awake are we?” A new, gruff voice asked.  
  
Stepping into the minimal light, the owner of the voice revealed themselves to the pair of captured maestros. “What the… fuck…?” Shouri’s eyes widened upon meeting this strange, new creature. They were dressed like a plague doctor, robes, hat, but missing the mask. Rather than the strange beak like mask that classical plague doctors wore, this person had an actual beak. The exposed portions of their body were coated in black, bird-like feathers. They had a bi-pedal shape, but barely resembled a human.  
  
“Never seen a natural, have yas?” The creature cackled.  
  
“Stop inventing new rules.” Shouri gritted his teeth. Colette too gritted her own teeth, glaring at the bird-man who was apparently their captor.  
  
Ignoring the bitter glares he was receiving, he turned his back to the prison cell. “Got a tip about you folks.” The bird man walked over to a well-worn control panel, revealing a pair of wings that were currently folded behind them.  
  
“What does a natural want with us?” Colette growled. Shouri looked over. She was trying her best to maintain her cool, but it was obvious she was terrified. Her fists were balled up as tight as she could muster, going white from the pressure, her whole body trembled as she spoke.  
  
The question earned a laugh from their captor. “What indeed? The robes mean nothin’ to ya?”  
  
“Plague doctor robes. Kinda tacky.” Shouri commented.  
  
The plague doctor in question turned to the pair, sitting back on the control panel. “Name’s Marrion. And you two are my new pets.”  
  
\---  
  
Blakki led the way as she and Rebecca ran through the rain. Rebecca was so tense at the moment, it was difficult to control her own body heat. As a result, the water was evaporating from her body, leaving a fine trail of mist as she followed the lunar resonator.  
  
“Where are we going?!” The fire resonator shouted.  
  
“Sho!” Came the shout from ahead.  
  
“Yeah! But how do you know where he is?!”  
“I just do! Fidati di me!”  
  
She didn’t really have a choice but to trust Blakki. With a frown, she continued following the black-clad resonator. Rebecca looked to their north. They were passing the cave they had arrived in the small valley the day prior. So where were they going now? Looking ahead, she noticed there was an opening in the cliff-face.  
  
They ran through the opening revealing a second, smaller valley. Blakki skidded to a halt, panting hard. “Lui è lì.” She said to Rebecca, pointing north. The other fox-girl came to a stop, trying to catch her breath as well. Looking north where Blakki had pointed to revealed a large, but slowly decaying mansion.  
  
“They’re in there?” Rebecca asked for clarification. Rather than replying, Blakki began walking towards the dilapidated home. The fire resonator frowned, straightening her back. “You can use your words ya know.” The girl grumbled before following after the other resonator.  
  
\---  
  
“So, you know I’m not from this world. Mind elaborating on what the hell a “natural” is supposed to be?” Shouri asked of their prison warden. He and Colette had taken a position on the back wall, in a vain attempt to put some distance between themselves and the bird-natural that oozed ill intent.  
  
Marrion chuckled again. “Guess I can’t complain about you not knowin’ boy.” He held out a feathered hand and from the palm of his hand a small tree instantly appeared and sprouted from seemingly nothingness. “The dominant species.”  
  
Shouri laughed nervously. “Ha. You look like some kid’s edgy ‘sona.” Marrion simply responded by flicking his wrist in the smart aleck’s direction.  
  
Thwick!  
  
The boy raised his hand to his face, it was wet? Pulling his hand into his vision revealed blood where it had touched. Glancing to the side, a razor-sharp leaf stuck out of the wall.  
  
“Unlike yer mutts, I don’t need no master to give me permission to use my powers.” If Marrion could smirk with that beak, Shouri imagined he’d be wearing a shit eating grin at that moment in time.  
  
\---  
  
“Damn! The door’s locked!” Rebecca growled, holding the door by its handle and shaking it hard. Despite the poor state the manor in question was in, the door was surprisingly firm. To make matters worse, the windows were all boarded up too, so they weren’t getting in that way either.  
  
“Levati di mezzo!” A cry came from behind her. Rebecca turned around and barely fell out of the way of a charging Blakki, who plowed through the door like it wasn’t even there. The fox-girl rose to her feet. What was that feeling as Blakki passed by? It was like she was displacing the air, or at least way more than her small frame should have been able to.  
  
Not wanting to be left behind, the fire resonator hopped to her feet and followed her lunar counterpart into the mansion.  
  
As one would expect from a crumbling home such as this one, there was next to no light in the home. Rebecca could only see with the occasional flash of lightning. Despite the near total darkness, Blakki seemed to be navigating the interior of the home just fine. “W-wait for me!” Rebecca called out, following the other girl using her ears to track the lunar resonator’s position.  
  
Upon catching up, she grabbed Blakki’s hand. “Che?” The lunar resonator stopped and looked at Rebecca (not that the fire resonator could tell.)  
  
“This isn’t a volcano, I’m out of my element.”  
“Capisco.”  
  
Blakki led them up a flight of stairs to a small library. “Gah… this is so annoying. I’d be less useless if Colette was here.” The red-haired girl complained quietly.  
  
“I hear something.” The black-clad fox-girl released her red companion’s hand and began searching the room.  
  
Rebecca remained absolutely still, given the room they were in was pitch dark.  
  
“QUI!”  
  
SLAM THUD  
  
Before the blind girl could question what was happening, there was a small bit of light from a previously hidden staircase.  
  
“Come on, Rebecca.” Blakki waved her partner in crime towards the miniscule light source. With a gulp, the fire-fox decided to heed the command and follow.  
  
The pair descended down the stairs into the less-murky depths. The more temperature sensitive of the pair shivered. “Damn it’s cold down here.” Rebecca muttered, holding herself as they reached the bottom of the stone staircase.   
  
“What is all of this?” Blakki gasped, standing at the entrance to another hallway. Rebecca walked over and glanced down the passageway her fellow resonator was standing at.  
  
It was a corridor lined in stone, with all kinds of strange machinery lining the wall to the right while thick iron bars which stood proudly in front of small alcoves to the left.  
  
“Sketchy experiment dungeon. Nice, if not a little on the cliché side.” Rebecca grimaced at the choice in décor. “Really hope they’re not here.” She added, her mind starting to drift to the worst-case scenario. Blakki nodded in agreement and proceeded cautiously into the dungeon.  
  
The two vixens slowly crept down the stone pathway laid out in front of them, looking into each empty cell as they passed by until…  
  
“Sho!”  
“Colette!”  
  
The two girls rushed to a set of bars. Inside the cage were their precious maestros, bound to the wall by what appeared to be tree roots. The two teens struggled against their bindings that held them in place. They couldn’t speak a word due to the part of the root system that covered their mouths.  
  
“How does this open?!” Blakki shouted, finding the door to the prison cell. She grabbed the handle for the door, but it held firm, being locked. Rebecca looked around quickly, trying to figure out what to do. That’s when she spotted a glint of silver just down the hallway.  
  
Having a good feeling about that, she ran down towards the shine that caught her eye. Sure enough, a few cells down on the opposite wall hung a ring of keys. “Blakki!” The fire resonator shouted, snatching the keys from their resting place.  
  
“Eh?” The lunar resonator looked down the passageway.  
  
Rebecca was already running back. “I found the keys!”  
  
Blakki’s face instantly lit up. “Good job!” She shouted back. Despite still being able to hear the good news, Shouri and Colette were still struggling and trying to shout through their bindings, which put Blakki on edge. Everything was going to be fine, right?  
  
Arriving back at the cell, Rebecca began trying keys in the lock until one finally turned the tumbler further than the rest. With a click, the door was released from its resting place and swung open with ease. The pair of vixens ran to their respective maestros.  
  
Tearing the vines from their mouths, the two maestros immediately shouted  
  
“LOOK OUT!”  
  
THWACK!  
  
Before it all went black.


	38. Chapter 38

SPLASH  
  
Blakki slowly opened her eyes. She was standing? The back of her head hurt, she was soaked, and there was a tight pressure all over her body. She couldn’t move at all. After a minute or two of concentration, her vision finally focused, allowing her to take stock of her current conditions.  
  
The pressure around her body came from thick vines that wrapped around her form, similar to the ones around Shouri and Colette. Speaking of the two maestros, they were bound up nearby, the damaged vines having been replaced with fresh ones.  
  
Rebecca was to her right, her eyes were open but the flicker of hope they once had was now extinguished.  
  
The two fox-girl’s ears twitched as a sound approached from down the hallway, the clacking of talons against a stone floor.  
  
The black feathered plague doctor, Marrion revealed himself to the two vixens. “Ah, the whipped mutts are awake. The ol’ bucket of water did the trick after all.” The bird man cackled to himself. He pulled the door open, having left it unlocked prior.  
  
Blakki mustered up the nastiest glare she could make, struggling in vain against her bindings.  
  
“Now now treat, don’t go bruising yourself up. I need you in tip-top shape.” Reaching into his robes, Marrion drew out a scalpel that was previously hidden away. “Can’t miss this opportunity to cut into some real-live aliens.” His tongue traced the edge of his beak, as if the predator was ready to tear into a fresh kill.  
  
Next to her, Rebecca was making all kinds of noise, struggling twice as hard against their vine-prison and attempting to shout despite her mouth being totally covered.  
  
The natural put away his small blade for the moment, and folded his arms across his chest, humming in thought. “Now how do I do this? I could give you a good ol’ smash and be done with it.” He shook his head. “No no, that won’t do. I just said I shouldn’t injure ya’s, not until the fun part.” Another hum in thought. “Can’t lop yer heads off either. What if there’s somethin’ interestin’ there?” Marrion was seriously thinking this through. The best way to execute them.  
  
THUMP THUMP  
  
It was getting hard to breathe. Blakki’s heart and mind raced. Even if she somehow got them all free, Shouri and Colette didn’t have their tuners. They were all powerless. 

  
“Wait! Duh! Aren’t I just a fool?” The warden turned to his captives. “Suffocation works nicely.” His eyes narrowed.  
  
Blakki gulped hard. What could they do? There had to be an option left. Something they could do. Anything would be an improvement at this point.  
  
“Call me a bit of a sadist though. Maybe it’s just plain racism, but I gotta; no, I NEED to see your expressions as I cut these two open.” Marrion cackled as he stared at the pair of fox-girls.  
  
Both Blakki and Rebecca went pale. He was going to make them watch him butcher their maestros?! The pair of resonators struggled harder, but it was pointless, as the vines tightened in response.  
  
Time felt like it slowed to a crawl as Blakki wracked her brain. What did she have? What could she do!? This wasn’t how this was supposed to end!  
  
“You might know this one as “Spore di Veleno”” Marrion held out his feathered hand, showing the two resonators a ball of spores. “I have total control of the intensity. If I do something like this-” The small cloud of spores turned opaquer, becoming solid. “-I could just fill their lungs with straight poison. Ya?”  
  
The two resonators trembled in absolute terror at the prospect of this slow torturous death he was promising. The bird man trembled a bit in delight. HE took a deep breath and exhaled, recomposing himself. “Whew. Getting’ a bit too excited. We’re still in the teasing.” He turned to maestros, who were just exhausted from their own struggling prior. “Spore di Veleno is a poison spell. Though larger, untreated doses are fatal. Let’s just replace the air round their heads with straight poisonous spores.”  
  
Blakki and Rebecca watched in horror as their precious partner’s air supply was slowly replaced by spores.  
  
Almost immediately the effects became clear. Shouri and Colette began to tear up and started coughing. Blakki felt her own heart slow to a near stop. This wasn’t happening. This had to be a dream. She just stared blankly. Even Rebecca had stopped struggling and simply stared in horror at what they were watching.  
  
 _“they’re like a natural ability a resonator can use. It uses rhythm but doesn’t need a spell”  
“You can do a lot of things we don’t know about apparently.”  
  
_At that precise moment, it all went black. Blakki saw herself standing against the sphinx scherzando. Behind her was Aura, Vinci, and Sonia. She watched the image of her past-self rush the scherzando, and then pull her fist back and topple it like a house of playing cards.  
  
That was something she did. Something she was able to do with no maestro. In the same building she was able to open a shut, sealed elevator door with her bare hands.  
  
The images faded from her mind, leaving her in darkness. She had paid those feats no mind when she accomplished them. The only thing that had been on her mind at that time was saving Shouri.  
  
The real question was how could she do that again?  
  
 _“Emotion, Willpower, Knowledge. As long as you know you can do. If you’re always told you can’t do something, rhythm will make it so.”_  
  
She looked down at her hands.  
  
 _“I'll protect you somehow! I promise!”  
  
_ With a confident glare, she closed her hands into tight fists. It was so obvious, that she honestly felt stupid for not realizing it before. This whole time, she had the tools to succeed.  
  
“What the fuck?!”  
  
Blakki’s eyes glowed a bright blue as she opened them. The scalpel that Marrion had been taunting them with prior floated over to Blakki and sliced away her own bindings. “Volontà Estesa! I’m telekinetic!” The girl declared, now totally free.  
  
“What the fuck!?” Marrion repeated, summoning a swarm of bladed leaves.  
  
The leaves flew at Blakki, all targeting vital organs. As soon as they entered her airspace however, they gained a blue glow and began to orbit her at the same velocity. “You can have these back!” With a mental suggestion, the razor-sharp leaves turned on their master, now flying back at Marrion at the same speed he had thrown them at Blakki.  
  
“You WENCH!” The natural stomped the ground, and multiple roots shot out of the ground, catching the leaves before they could do harm to their caster. Before Marrion could attempt a counter attack, his wall of roots was cut down. He stepped back. His roots smoldered, and in between him and the remains, Rebecca knelt on the ground. At her feet were small wings made of fire.  
  
“LITERALLY HOW?!”  
  
Rebecca smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”  
  
THWACK  
  
Marrion flew out of the cell, the front of his robes burning from the heel kick Rebecca had delivered straight to his chest. He looked up weakly, his hat long gone. He watched Blakki hold out her hand and the vines that ensnared Shouri and Colette broke away like wet paper. The pair of unconscious maestros were gently lowered to the ground before Blakki turned her gaze to Marrion.  
  
“Rebecca, check on them.” The lunar resonator's voice was suddenly cold. Much colder than Marrion had remembered hearing prior. It seemed even Rebecca herself noticed this. The flames at her feet went out and she walked over to the two maestros.  
  
The blue-eyed vixen walked to the cell door. “Let’s play a little game.” Every word oozed murderous intent. Fear. That’s what Marrion felt. Pure, unadulterated fear. He was totally helpless as he watched her lift her hand. She slowly raised her palm, her fingers extending out. A single digit of Marrion’s hand was lifted up by an unseen force. It held in the air for a moment.  
  
CRUNCH  
  
A sickening sound of bone snapping filled the hallway. Followed by a blood-curdling scream: “WAAAAAAAUGH!!!” The digit hadn’t moved at all. She didn’t snap it. All Marrion knew is it felt like that finger wasn’t even there anymore, even though he could clearly see it. Through the pain, he tried to move it, but there was no response.  
  
“Hey.” Blakki looked down at the tear-soaked face of her adversary. “I’m not a doctor. If a bone is crushed to dust, what happens to it?”  
  
Marrion’s eyes grew wider and wider. This chick was a total psychopath! Every fiber in his being told him he had to get away. Natural pride be damned, no amount of pride was worth facing whatever this CREATURE was.  
  
Despite the pain he was feeling, his own instinct kicked in and told him to run. He scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he could. Whatever that THING was, it was not human!  
  
THUD

  
“Shame, isn’t it?” Marrion shakily raised his head to face the warm body he had run into. The last thing he would ever lay eyes upon was the shine of a pair of cracked, circular glasses.   
  
\---  
  
“Blakki! They’re not waking up!” Rebecca cried out.  
  
The blue glow faded from the resonator’s eyes as she turned back around. They could chase Marrion later. She rushed over and slid to her knees next to Shouri. Despite their current state of unconsciousness, both Shouri and Colette were gasping for air. Each breath was more of a wheeze, and sounded awful. The lunar resonator sat there for a moment, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape, hands trembling as she tried to figure out what she could do.  
  
Frustrated, the lunar elemental gritted her teeth. “I-if I had rhythm I could-” She stopped mid thought and smacked her head, her lips turning up into a smile. “Duh! If I could use my class skill what is stopping me from just using my rhythm to cast Purifica L'anima to heal them?!” The fox-girl beamed, proud of herself for thinking of it.  
  
She held out her hands. In her mind she thought about the spell, she knew how it felt to cast the spell. Harder and harder she focused on it, even going as far as to hold her breath in case her breathing would interrupt her focus. The black-haired fox-girl closed her eyes tightly, mustering as much concentration as she could.  
  
But nothing happened.  
  
The frustrated resonator opened her eyes, releasing her held breath “Wh-why isn’t it working?!” She cried out in exasperation, and attempting to catch her breath. Rebecca sat for a moment, staring at the desperate resonator in pity. Finally, she decided to speak up:  
  
“Blakki, those spells are maestros shaping our powers to their will. They are not something we do naturally. That’s why it feels like you lose control of your body when-”  
“SHUT UP REBECCA! I AM NOT LETTING HIM DIE!”  
  
Rebecca flinched at the sudden frenzied shout. She was about to bark back when she saw tears pouring from the lunar resonator’s eyes. “Why do the rules have to get in the way NOW? How am I able to do all of those crazy things with my mind, but using MY own powers to heal someone out of the question?” Blakki pounded her fist into the ground in sheer anger.  
  
Before she totally broke down, Blakki felt a pressure on her back. “Try now. Purifica L'anima, Tutti.” The healer held out her hands. The familiar pulse of rhythm coursing through her body and the warm, inviting pulse of light that accompanied it. The two vixens watched the healing light wash over the two unmoving maestros and fade into them. Their breathing stabilized not a moment later.  
  
Turning her head back, she saw Noir turning the corner and vanishing out of sight. Blakki sighed, lowering her head and finally relaxing, feeling safe once again. She closed her eyes for a moment, the fatigue catching up with her.  
  
“We should probably move them back.” Rebecca’s voice snapped Blakki back from nearly falling asleep where she sat.  
  
Opening her eyes, the lunar resonator nodded slowly. “Maybe I could use my new powers to just carry them out.”  
  
“Wouldn’t recommend that girl.” Rebecca frowned. “As much as I’d love to not have to carry Colette for like a mile.”  
  
Blakki raised an eyebrow. “Why?” She asked.  
  
“Your tips are white. You’ve already drained most of your rhythm.”  
“Eh?”  
  
Looking up and pulling her bangs out, Blakki discovered this fact. Her normally silky black hair had slowly began to turn white. She recognized this from when Sonia had previously tried commanding both her and Vinci. “Ah I see…” The fox-girl wilted.  
  
\---  
  
“Ah you return.”  
“F-fuck you…”  
  
Noir smirked as he continued to play his piano. At his door stood a pair of worn out and battered vixens, each with a totally unconscious maestro on their backs. Both girls were soaked in sweat and nearly out of breath. Blakki’s hair was still half white, due in part to her needing to use her newfound telekinesis to help bolster her strength slightly, despite Rebecca’s warnings against doing so.  
  
“Bedrooms are that way, ladies.”  
  
The two ladies in question slowly turned their heads. A set of stairs waited for them.  
  
“Just kill me.” Rebecca’s eyes narrowed as tears started to gather at the corners of her eyes.  
  
Blakki bit her bottom lip, shuffling her positioning of Shouri on her back. “I’m not letting him wake up on the floor. She stomped towards the stairs, and began stepping up them.  
  
Rebecca just watched as the white crept a little bit further up Blakki’s hair. The fire resonator nodded. She couldn’t let Colette down either. Flames ignited at her feet as she rushed towards the stairs.  
  
\---  
  
“You are both fools, you know that?”  
  
A less than pleased Noir stood over Rebecca and Blakki who sat on the couch. The lunar resonator sighed, dark bags under her eyes and very little black left in her hair, while her fire counterpart nursed her burnt heels, her own hair now half white.  
  
“Volontà Estesa and Icarus' ala are fine skills, except Volontà Estesa drains the user based on the weight of the object they’re attempting to move, and Icarus' ala burns its user if overused. Carrying sixty-five kilos of boy up a flight of stairs will grey you pretty quickly, while trying to fly while being weighed down by fifty-seven kilos of girl is an excellent way to burn your legs off.” The rhythm master scolded the two fox-girls.  
  
Rebecca looked up from nursing her burnt skin and glared at the ethereal. “Bite me, I didn’t see you rushing to help.”  
  
This earned a smirk from the ethereal in question. “Oh, but didn’t I?” he grabbed Rebecca’s hand, forced something into it, and closed her hand around it. “Please make sure you clean up your mess next time.” He said ominously before leaving the room.  
  
The girl raised an eyebrow, Blakki looked over lethargically. Rebecca opened her hand. In it laid a single black feather.  
  
\---

This was it huh?  
  
The end.  
  
It seemed almost anti-climactic to young Shouri Tomoshibi. Kidnapped by some whack-job bird-man-thing and suffocated to death. 

Would anyone even ever find their bodies?  
  
Light? What is that warm, inviting light?  
  
Wait. They always said never go towards the light! But why does it feel so familiar?  
  
Shouri opened his eyes. He was laying in bed? Furthermore, he was holding something. Moving the blanket slightly, he noticed a bundle of white hair and fox ears. Immediately his face paled. He backed off quickly, nearly throwing the mystery white-haired person off of him.  
  
Said person shook their head and groggily sat up. “Cheeeh… Sho?”  
  
“B-Blakki?”  
“Buongiorno, Sho.”  
“You uhhh… bleached your hair”  
  
The fox girl held out her bangs. “Darn it… Rebecca said it’d turn back.” Upon further inspection, Blakki looked absolutely exhausted. Her now white hair seemed sad, almost as if it was fragile enough to turn to ash with but a touch. There were dark bags under her eyes, and even her breathing seemed a bit labored.  
  
Even more confused than before, Shouri decided to get some answers. Blakki explained what happened to them the day before, as well as her and Rebecca’s new powers.  
  
“Wait wait wait, you can use telekinesis?”  
“Apparently.”  
  
The maestro folded his arms across his chest, frowning while glaring down at the bed underneath them. “You’re nearly bled dry. I don’t need my tuner to tell me that.” He glanced back up at his resonator. Her tail, ears, and hair were all completely white now.  
  
“I’m so tired Sho.” Blakki smiled through her exhaustion. “We slept all night too…”  
  
This only intensified Shouri’s frown and concern. “Come on, we’re going to go get some answers out of our so called “teacher”.”  
  
\---  
  
“Fix them.” Shouri demanded of their “teacher” almost immediately.  
  
Noir smirked. “Now why would I go and do that?” He practically towered over Shouri despite only being a few inches taller than the boy.  
  
The three girls sat on the couch. Blakki, too tired to move; Rebecca, laid back, feet up; and Colette, wrapping bandages around her resonator’s burnt feet. None of them moved to back up Shouri. So, he would go it alone. Mustering up his meager strength, he began his counter attack.  
  
“Cause you let us get into that mess in the first place.”  
“You act as if I had planned that.”  
“Oh but after we almost got made into science fair projects you came and cleaned up the mess.”  
  
The rhythm master hummed to himself. “While I didn’t plan it, it did work out well.” With a flick of his finger, Shouri was thrown back onto the couch.  
  
“Motherfucker!” Shouri groaned, sitting up and rubbing the spot where he was struck. Blakki held her maestro back with what little strength she had left  
  
The ethereal stood over the quartet, hands behind his back. “Rhythm is a tool, a way of manipulating your spiritual energy to accomplish basic work. In the same respect it is a muscle. If you train it, you will gain strength.”  
  
“In a way our feathered friend did you a great service.”  
  
Shouri scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, giving me more emotional baggage, thanks.”  
  
Noir adjusted his glasses and spoke frankly. “It was either him or me. These two kits needed a push, a catalyst to unlock their potential. Now its your jobs as maestros to help them grow as they have done for you.”  
  
The maestros in question looked to each other, hoping their counterpart would have the answer. When it was clear neither of them possessed the answer, they looked to Noir.  
  
The elder rhythm user looked at the pair in disgust. “Must I tell you everything?” He himself now scoffed. “Give your rhythm to them.”  
  
“How?”  
“Figure it out.”  
  
Noir moved one of his hands from his back and pointed it at the couch. “Or they die.” A sadistic grin slowly formed on the man’s face. Blakki and Rebecca immediately looked uncomfortable, then they both reached for their necks. Neither girl spoke a word, struggling against some unseen force.  
  
“Hey! Cut it out!” Colette shouted, jumping to her feet.  
  
“You can make this stop. I’m only using enough force to press on their natural rhythm barrier. Since they’ve depleted all of theirs-” He stopped to chuckle. “-they’re totally helpless.”  
  
Colette looked back in a panic. Shouri was similarly panicked. Neither of them knew what to do. That’s when he saw it, a small tinge of red began to drip down Blakki’s face. Instantly that night replayed in Shouri’s head. The one night he didn’t want to remember. His greatest mistake. “Not again…” He gritted his teeth.  
  
“Hoh?” Noir raised an eyebrow.  
  
The boy scanned Blakki’s entire form, as if an expert on the matter. “Of fucking course.” He grumbled. 

  
“Shou-ri?” Colette looked over; her own face soaked in tears of frustration due to her powerlessness.  
  
Placing his hand right over her heart, he focused his very being towards Blakki. Everything they went through and experienced, he replayed them all in his head as he kept his focus on her and her alone. If he could burn himself away to make her live then-  
  
He felt two hands around his wrists. Looking up from his hand he saw Blakki smiling at him, her hair shining the silky black color it always had. Her tail was vibrant, healthy; all back to normal.  
  
Colette turned to Rebecca and just wrapped her arms around her resonator. Despite the tight embrace, the fire resonator slowly began to regain her breath, and finally was able to breathe normally after a moment.  
  
Satisfied, Noir turned his back and walked to his piano. “See? You didn’t need me to fix them.” He spoke before beginning to play his instrument once more.  
  
The group of four exchanged glances, remaining where they had been. “You can uh, let go over her chest now.” Rebecca grinned toothily, noting where Shouri’s hand currently rested.  
  
“Ah! Sorry!” Shouri yelped, yanking his hand away. Rebecca couldn’t help but roar with laughter at Shouri and Blakki’s totally red faces.


	39. Chapter 39

“This is so cool!” Blakki exclaimed, as seven books rotated around her form. Rebecca had her arms folded across her chest; eyes narrowed as she glared at the lunar resonator.  
  
“Yeah and all I can do is burn my own feet.” She scoffed.  
  
A sudden sharp pain in her head caused Blakki to wince; the books clattered to the ground with the loss of concentration. Her hair had begun to turn white again. Before she could move to pick up the books, she felt a hand on her back and her energy returning to her along with the color in her hair. “I can’t hold it for long, but it’s a start.” The fox girl bent over to pick up the scattered books.  
  
Shouri lowered his arm, having re-fueled Blakki’s rhythm with his own. “Training Blakki and Rebecca’s rhythm is probably what Noir wants to teach us first. Probably why he took our tuners too.” The boy commented as he watched his resonator return the books to their initial resting place on the shelves.  
  
Colette nodded. “It seems as if our dear teacher is allowing us a days reprieve.” Her gaze slowly fell. “But… based on what he tried to do to us earlier, I feel as if it’s a small mercy. He’s gonna run us ragged.” The red-haired maestro commented.  
  
The male maestro nodded in agreement. “Not looking forward to that.” He grimaced at the thought.  
  
“So what do we do now?” Rebecca asked.  
  
The group of four pondered that thought for a couple minutes. “I’m still tired from yesterday.” Blakki decided. “Sho, let’s go take a nap.” She smiled, linking arms with her maestro.  
  
The boy looked down at his partner smiling up at him. He returned a confused frown. “But I’m not tired.” Blakki’s smile slowly faded into a pout of annoyance.  
  
With a sigh, he looked to the other pair. “I guess I’m taking a nap.” He stated plainly. Looking out a nearby window, the sun was just beginning its descent, having completed the first half of its daily journey. “I’ll make dinner when we get up.” He added.  
  
The prospect of another Shouri-brand dinner caused the other two girls to perk up. “Do you need anything? We were thinking of getting some snacks from the market.” Rebecca asked.  
  
“I can make whatever, just get some stuff.” He waved dismissively before being pulled away by an over-eager Blakki.  
  
\---  
  
Click  
  
With the bedroom door closed and securely locked, Shouri turned to his partner.  
  
Blakki looked to the ground, face totally red as she wore a nervous smile. “Vuoi toccare il mio... capito?” She asked, pushing her index fingers together as she spoke.  
  
The maestro blinked slowly. “I don’t know what you said.”  
  
The fox girl looked up, her face still bright red. “Dimentica quello che ho detto!” She rapidly shook her head, waving her hands in front of her. The brown-haired maestro could only sigh, and narrow his eyes. Having a dual-language speaking fox girl who couldn’t control what language she spoke was tiring.  
  
“Maybe I do need that nap.”  
  
He walked over to the bed and took a seat on the edge. He lowered his head, as if to fall asleep right there. Blakki fidgeted nervously, not sure of what to do despite this being entirely her idea.  
  
“So-” The girl jumped at the sound of her maestro’s voice. “-what’s eating you up?” He asked quietly.  
  
The fox girl gulped, she took a step back, staring at her maestro with wavering eyes. “Wh-what are you talking about I’m fine-”  
  
“Bullshit.”  
  
Her eyes widened more at the harsh tone she receiving. “What did Rebecca say to you?”  
  
“H-how-? What makes you think she-?”  
“After we left the cave you were distant. You specifically asked for us to sleep together, but you kept to yourself that night.”  
“I was tired and-”  
  
She bit her bottom lip. He wasn’t looking at her, she couldn’t even see his eyes from how he had his head positioned.  
  
“We’re partners, so I don’t want any secrets anymore. If you don’t want to be my partner, just fucking tell me.”  
  
Shouri looked up, glaring at his partner. She glared back. “I believe those were your words.”  
  
The two remained silent for what felt like an eternity. “She…” The resonator trailed off, lowering her head. “She…” Once more the girl bit her bottom lip in frustration. She looked up at Shouri, tears streaming down her face. “She said we’re just tools! That if we’re dulled, you’ll just throw us to the side and pick a new tool!”  
  
The display of raw emotion was met with an apathetic stare. The boy sighed, shaking his head. “And? I know this is a big deal for you, but I’m not like them. You’re a person, not an object.” Her eyes met his glare. It wasn’t a glare of anger, but rather determination. She could feel how genuine those words were.  
  
“…I know…” Blakki hung her head again in shame. “I know, even before, when you were in the hospital. Everything you did was for my sake.”  
  
Silence.  
  
“So, what’s the problem then?” Shouri asked, leaning back on his arm while maintaining eye contact with the fox-girl.  
  
The girl continued her nervous fidgeting, looking from side to side, as if something on the ground would give her the answer. “It’s just you-”  
  
“Is it about the shower? I was respecting your space.” He stated sternly. She looked up in shock. “I know you wanted me to shower with you. I also know you just asked me to touch you.”  
  
Blakki’s jaw caught slack. She gritted her teeth, and resumed glaring at him. “Y-you’re unbelievable!” She barked. “If you know then why?!”  
  
“Besides the fact that I almost killed you before, I still have some serious survivors guilt I’m getting over.” He replied. “It doesn’t help that everyone and their mothers seem to have it out for us, it’s making it pretty fucking difficult for me to sort my feelings.”  
  
The resonator dropped her arms to her sides. She hadn't expected such a composed answer. “I suppose you’re right.” She chuckled hollowly. “I can’t remember my life here, but I just… want to be greedy. I feel like I didn’t have much of well… anything before.”  
  
“Come here.”  
  
She looked up. Shouri still sat on the bed, but held his hand out for her. She stepped forward and reached out. As soon as he had hold of her hand, she felt herself get yanked forward. Within a few seconds, Blakki was laying in bed with Shouri’s arms around her. “E-eh?” She blinked.  
  
“You said you sleep better like this.” He commented.  
  
“Eheheh… It’s probably the rhythm.” The vixen laughed nervously, hoping her maestro couldn’t see her reddening face.  
  
“Let’s go with that. Take your nap.” He whispered gently.  
  
“Sho, ho bisogno di te…”  
  
\---  
  
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
Blakki groggily opened her eyes. “You can sleep when you’re dead! It is time for dinner.” Noir’s voice permeated the door, much to Shouri and Blakki’s displeasure.  
  
Releasing his resonator, Shouri sat up, rubbing his head. “You know, for an immortal god, he sure is strict about when he eats.” The chef in question groaned at the rude awakening. He looked to Blakki who was still getting her own bearings.  
  
“Stanca…” Was the only input the fox-girl would have on the manner.  
  
The pair shuffled their way out of their bedroom and down the stairs into the kitchen. This was met with chuckling from the peanut gallery known as Rebecca and Colette. “You two look like shit.” Rebecca commented, noting the disheveled hair and clothing the newly awake pair was sporting.  
  
“Fuck you.”  
“Vaffanculo.”  
  
The vitriol which the pair swore at the other two only added to the taunting. “Poor little sleepy babies.” Rebecca laughed loudly. “Now now Rebecca, it’s pretty obvious they need their beauty sleep."  
  
SPLASH  
  
A hovering bucket clattered to the ground. “Huh, that was pretty impressive actually.” Noir commented, having been watching the bucket get filled in the kitchen and then brought out by Blakki’s telekinesis to be delivered to it’s intended target.  
  
“Aww poor wet babies should go take a shower while mommy and daddy make dinner.” Shouri retorted, before walking into the kitchen. Neither of the peanut gallery had any further comments to add to that, being completely soaked.  
  
The provider of the bucket Blakki, turned away, hiding her now completely awake, and red face from being referred to as “mommy” in the previous taunt.  
  
\---  
  
thwack thwack thwack thwack  
  
The repetitive tapping of a knife against a cutting board was one of several noises in the busy kitchen of two. The chef in question frowned, looking around for a missing component. Seeing the tool in question sitting a distance away from him, he looked back down to the chopped vegetables. With an annoyed sigh, he spoke. "I get more exercise in here than I did walking through that hell cave.” He complained. The maestro looked back to the cut vegetables he had assembled that sat on the island in the center of the room; his gaze then slowly drifted over to the stove Blakki was currently powering.  
  
He stroked his chin in thought. “Hmmm…” He looked the girl up and down, not that she could tell due to facing the wall. “Maybe…?”  
  
The fox-girl’s ears twitched. “Maybe?” She asked.  
  
“Can you move the cutting board over to the counter?”  
“Oh! Uh sure! I can try.”  
  
Shouri followed the cutting board as it ascended from the island and moved to the countertop next to the stove. “Ah, that was perfect.” He smiled. Like the previous meal he made, he would take a position behind his resonator and work around her, his body up against her back as he went through the motions of cooking. Blakki tried her best to stop her tail from wagging, but ultimately lost out. Shouri chuckled slightly to himself as he felt her tail hit the insides of her legs. “I’m sorry for being such a tease.” He whispered into her ear before walking away from the stove.  
  
Her face turned red as she glared at the boiling soup in front of her. “If you know why do you keep doing it?!” She asked.  
  
“It’s interesting, I guess? It’s a different side of you. Oh! I suppose it’s a side of me that you haven’t really been exposed to.” He explained himself, leaning back on the island. Despite Blakki’s previous tone, she was still wagging her tail as happy as could be.  
  
“I don’t really hate it…” She muttered.  
  
“Ehhh? What was that?”  
“You know what I said!”  
  
Noir sat at his piano in the meantime, playing away as usual as he listened to the back and forth of the maestro and resonator in his kitchen. Every so often he’d crack a smile, but it would slowly fade with time. Eventually he’d lift his hands from the keys upon hearing a sudden, rapid beeping that was emitted from one of his pockets. The piano keys continued to rise and fall despite their player no longer physically touching them.  
  
Retrieving the source of the noise from his inner vest pocket, he looked over Shouri’s tuner. “Ohoh? Now that’s interesting. I’ll have to test that.” The rhythm master chuckled as he smirked at the protesting device.


	40. Chapter 40

The following morning, the group of four sat on the couch awaiting their fate for this day. Noir entered the room and stood before the group. After looking them over for a moment, the teacher spoke:  
  
“Rebecca and Colette. Your task for today will be to trim the lawn.” Noir told the first pair. Both girls looked to each other, then to the rhythm master.  
  
“You were serious about that?”  
“Do I look like the type to make a joke Ms. Severine?”  
  
Both girls looked over the man that stood over them. Prim and proper, along with a crushing aura. “You don’t look like you have a funny bone in your body.” Rebecca commented. “So we get to pull some weeds?”  
  
“You’ll find what the most efficient way of completing the task is.” The ethereal then turned to Shouri and Blakki. “You two will come with me.”  
  
The second pair looked at each other and gulped.  
  
While Rebecca and Colette were left with the lawn work, Shouri and Blakki got their shoes on and followed their host out the front door. The group of three walked through the small town, keeping quiet and to themselves. It was somewhat early, though Shouri couldn’t place an exact time due to the rocky walls that surrounded the town obscuring the sun for the dawn and dusk hours.   
  
Like most of the town, the building they arrived at was unmarked. It was a relatively large building, and definitely an older one by the wear on the structure. “Where are we?” Blakki decided to ask, folding her ears back.  
  
“You’ll see.” Noir replied with a devilish smirk, pushing the doors open. Unnerved, the pair followed the enigmatic ethereal in.  
  
Immediately, a group of children turned and face the trio that entered the building. “Ah! Master Noir!” An older voice exclaimed. From the small group of children, a young woman rose. She was wearing simple clothes, jeans and a plain t-shirt. Her long brown hair was tied up into a simple ponytail and she carried a small child in her arms.  
  
“Siya, busy as always?” Noir smirked.  
  
“You know me too well sir…” She laughed nervously. “I get volunteers every so often, but everyone is so busy.”  
  
Noir nodded. “You’re in luck. I have a couple of plucky young adults ready to take some of the burden off of your shoulders.” He stepped to the side, revealing Shouri and Blakki. Both adults in question waved nervously, each taking the moment to ponder their respective life choices.  
  
Upon catching sight of the pair, Siya’s face lit up. “Oh Master Noir! The help you bring me is always so wonderful! What will they be doing for us?”  
  
“They will be handling all matters relating to food until further notice.” Noir stated simply. “As usual, please inform me of any and all misgivings you may have with them.” The ethereal spoke in a deadly serious tone. He glanced back at the pair who jumped slightly from the aura he was giving off.  
  
Siya laughed nervously at the serious tone Noir was giving. “I’m sure they’ll do fine, they always do.”  
  
With a short nod, the rhythm master turned to depart. “I leave them in your care.” He told the woman. “Also-” He turned his attention to Shouri and Blakki. “I still expect dinner on the table by seven sharp.”  
  
Shouri took exception to that, glaring at the ethereal. “The fuc-“  
  
BAM  
  
A burst of rhythm knocked the boy to his back. “Seven sharp. And mind your tongue you delinquent, there are children here.”  
  
Blakki helped her partner to his feet as he glared at the departing Noir. Now standing upright once more, Shouri dusted himself off and turned to their new “boss.”  
  
“So where’s the kitchen?”  
“This way!”  
  
\---  
  
Shouri hummed, looking around yet another kitchen. He sighed, shaking his head. “I-is something the matter sir?” Siya asked, fretting slightly at the annoyed glances she had picked up from the maestro during his observation of the room.  
  
“The people who made this town suck at basic architecture.” The boy complained, shooting a glare in the owner’s direction.  
  
“Eh?” Siya blinked, unsure of what was wrong with the kitchen.  
  
Shouri pointed to the cabinets. “The cutlery is on the opposite side of the room from any of the work surfaces. The stove is on the opposite wall from the fridge. Also that door opens the wrong way and nearly hits anyone standing near the stove. It causes so much wasted…” He looked to Blakki, who stared back in bewilderment. “…movement.” He groaned loudly, shaking his head while pinching the bridge of his nose. “I suddenly understand.”  
  
“What do you understand?” Siya asked.  
  
The maestro shook his head. “Blakki, show her.”  
  
The resonator nodded, her blue eyes beginning to glow slightly. One of the cabinets opened and a plate flew over to Shouri of its own accord. The plate landed harmlessly on the maestro’s outstretched hand. “It’s rhythm exercise.”  
  
The caretaker clapped, impressed by the simple usage of Volontà Estesa. “Wow, I didn’t know Lunar resonators could do that.” The woman smiled at Blakki. The resonator in question chuckled sheepishly, appreciative someone from this side didn’t instantly hate her guts for being born.  
  
Shouri took inventory once again. They had two large fridges, and the stove almost looked industrial sized. “Ms. Siya?” He asked.  
  
“Y-yes sir?”  
“How many kids do you have here?”  
“About twenty-five ranging from ages six to fifteen.”  
  
The boy nodded several times. “Mhm mhm.” He stopped moving his head. “Please leave.”  
  
“Eh?”  
“Out, we need to get working.”  
“O-okay! Thank you!”  
  
With Siya’s rapid departure, Shouri and Blakki were left to their own devices. “Sho?” The resonator tilted her head, wondering what her maestro was thinking.  
  
“I’m gonna kill that fucking noisy bird.” The maestro growled.  
  
\---  
  
The first day was rough. Blakki was still getting used to using a power she had to manually control. As she would explain to Shouri and Siya, utilizing Volontà Estesa was more difficult than a maestro command as those commands always took control of her body to execute them.  
  
The only reason this had to be explained was due in part to the significant noise caused when several plates slammed into the ground and shattered. They would find themselves in the kitchen all day right up until six in the evening, which they then ran from the orphanage and crossed town back to Noir’s residence.  
  
“Blakki! Stove now!” Shouri commanded as they ran through the front door.  
  
“Right!”  
  
Colette poked her head in from all the commotion. She withdrew her head quickly when a knife flew by the entranceway. Besides the pair commanding the kitchen, food, utensils and plates flew around the kitchen guided by the puppet master that was Blakki.  
  
The red-haired maestro clung to the entranceway as she observed how the pair worked. Shouri would bark commands and Blakki would execute them, all with her eyes closed, purely focusing on moving the objects through space. She had just got this power right? It was unbelievable to Colette the level of mastery the lunar resonator appeared to have.  
  
What’s more, Shouri would occasionally place his hand on Blakki’s back, then return to what he was doing all with no words spoken between them. After watching this go on for some time, Colette turned away and walked back to where Rebecca was resting, her gaze low as she tried to process what she had seen.  
  
“Confused?”  
“Eh?!”  
  
The red-head looked up to see Noir standing in her path, arms behind his back. She slowly averted her gaze as she decided how to answer. “Maybe a bit.”  
  
“Are you familiar with the legend of the resonator?”  
  
Colette frowned, pondering that. “No, I can’t say that I am.”  
  
The rhythm master chuckled. “Of course not. It’s a very old story. I only heard it from another ethereal.” He turned and began to walk away, but motioned for Colette to follow. Hesitantly she took the invitation. They walked into Noir’s private library. With a wave of his hand a book flew from the shelf; one with a cover made of thick wood, the pages made of some kind of old paper. He flipped open the book and turned it to Colette.  
  
“What…?” She stared blankly at the text in front of her. It was unlike anything she had seen before. Naturally it was totally unreadable. She reached out and passed a hand over it. “It’s rhythm script.” She furrowed her brow in frustration. “But I still can’t understand it.”  
  
“Long ago, there was a great evil…”  
  
The girl looked up at her teacher. “Wait, it’s the seven heroes story?”  
  
Noir chuckled once more. “No, it’s the real story.” He closed his eyes, and began to recite the text in the book.  
  
“Long ago, there was a great evil. The people of the world were slaughtered one after another without remorse. The gods were powerless to stop the impending doom and abandoned the world in its time of need. When all hope was lost, these words were spoken:

  
_“Our perfect tempo! Resonator and Maestro, burning the rhythm of life! We are here à deux!”_

“In an instant, a blinding brilliance covered the land, purging the darkness and restoring the peace. However, the hero who spoke those words was nowhere to be found. To honor the hero and to never forget the power they held, we speak of rhythm in their name.”  
  
Colette stared at the script on the page. She still couldn’t read it, but as Noir deciphered the mystery text for her, she felt the text he read wasn’t modified or embellished, it was exactly as he spoke. “So that’s where we get all of our terms from?” She asked.  
  
He gave a short nod and smirked. “But didn’t you notice something strange?” The rhythm master asked of his protégé. She frowned hard, trying to think of anything that stood out. Nothing came to mind though. “The hero speaks for two, but the stories all tell of one.”  
  
Colette hummed in thought. She looked to Noir suddenly upon coming to a realization. “Wait! It could just be a translation-!”  
  
“Now Ms. Severine, rhythm script always gets the intention across. It is very difficult to misinterpret.” Noir cut her off. “The hero spoke as two, the author spoke as one. If you find out what that means, then you’ll find out what Maestros and Resonators truly are.”  
  
With a snap of the cover the book was shut. It floated back to its spot and slid back into place with little resistance. “Now come on, dinner is ready.” He told her, departing the room.  
  
The college student looked up at the shelf where the book had been returned to. “A power that has been lost to time huh?” She smiled warmly. “I’m glad there’s still things to discover on this planet.” The girl giggled to herself before leaving the room. 


	41. Chapter 41

“Pianissimo, Piano, Forte, Fortissimo. Presto, Allegro, Moderato, Adagio, Lento. These modifiers are put in place to prevent Maestro and Resonator from tearing each other apart.”  
  
“The measure of the amount of rhythm that is exchanged between Maestro and Resonator is your Tempo. When you first began exchanging rhythm your tempo is very low, the link isn’t very strong so you can’t push as much rhythm through your link.”  
  
“Now why would I explain tempo to you?”  
  
Shouri pondered the thought himself as he rapidly diced an onion. He paused the chopping of food and glanced over to Blakki who was at the stove. Their lesson from their teacher this morning seemed like such mundane knowledge. Rebecca and Colette were barely paying attention. They didn’t say anything during the lecture, but it was clear it was such trivial knowledge.  
  
There was a meaning behind Noir’s words. He didn’t seem to be the type to uselessly explain things.  
  
\---  
  
“Your scale refers to your strength and weakness in rhythm. Your scale isn’t something that you can change, it’s just part of the culmination of what makes you who you are.”  
  
“Shouri is strong Knowledge, weak Willpower”  
“Blakki is strong Willpower, weak Knowledge”  
“Colette is strong Knowledge, weak Emotion”  
“and lastly, Rebecca is strong Emotion, weak Knowledge”  
  
“Any maestro can utilize any resonator, but for best results, they should form a duet. A duet has matching rhythm like you all have.”  
  
“Why do you think that is? Ah! No answering. Think about it.”  
  
Colette placed her hand on Rebecca’s back, restoring some of her spent rhythm. The yardwork was proceeding slowly. They had managed to clear out a small corner, however the grass was unusually fire resistant. The only thing Rebecca was able to do was using her skill to attempt to kick the grass.  
  
However, they had to retire early the past two days due to the skill beginning to burn Rebecca’s heels. “Hey Rebecca.”  
  
“Hm?”  
“What do you think about what Master Noir asked us this morning?”  
  
The vixen put out the flames at her feet and turned to her maestro. “I mean, I guess it’s easier to pass rhythm if we make a duet?”  
  
“That was my first thought too, but I dunno, with him I feel like he’d hit us if we gave him that answer.”  
“You think it’s something deeper?”  
“With master Noir, always.”  
  
\---[[](https://toyhou.se/~literature/23271.quella-volta-un-ragazza-volpe-mi-insegno-italiano/41.-#_msocom_2)  
  
“Let’s talk about the tuner. It’s evolved from its humble beginnings and incorporated newer technologies as they evolved. The device itself is relatively simple, it takes in a maestro’s command and draws rhythm out of its holder. Then it establishes a link with its linked resonator, and transmits the rhythm to execute the requested command.”  
  
“However, there is always command time. It takes time for the maestro to read their spell and for the rhythm to transmit to the resonator. Then the resonator’s body must process the rhythm and finally execute the command. It sounds like it would take a long time, however this is all done within seconds and is far more efficient with rhythm transfer than a physical touch.”  
  
“So, I leave you with today’s question: why would I teach you how to transfer rhythm with a touch then?”  
  
Blakki stared at the stove in front of her. She wracked her brain trying to think of an answer to Noir’s daily question. When using her skill she had to do everything manually, where as when Shouri gave her orders her body moved on it’s own and all she had to worry about was targeting.  
  
All and all it seemed like the physical touch thing was just inconvenient. Shouri could give her commands from a distance away and she’d still get his rhythm.  
  
“You okay?”  
  
Her ears stood up suddenly, she looked to her left to see Shouri standing with a handful of trimmed bones. “Just thinking about Noir’s question.”  
  
“Ah.”  
“I guess maybe it’s so I can use my class skill?”  
  
Shouri shook his head. “Nah, that can’t be it. Your skill uses your own rhythm.” 

The fox-girl nodded in agreement. “You’re right.” She replied. “Ah yeah, now that I think about it, I’ve needed less re-charges from you since I’ve been using my skill daily.”  
  
“Hm… maybe that’s it.” The maestro hummed to himself in thought. “Anyways, get a pot of water and boil these bones. We’re making a broth.”  
  
“Alright Sho.”  
  
\---  
  
The group sat on the couch the following morning, awaiting their teacher’s daily lecture. They had gone through three days of rudimentary knowledge thus far. While Shouri and Blakki appreciated the crash course in rhythm and other related topics, both Colette and Rebecca were rapidly losing their patience considering they were paying a nice sum of money to learn this stuff back home.  
  
The enigmatic Noir appeared before the group. “Let’s start today’s discussion with a question instead: Why are your beds so small?”  
  
The four young adults all looked at each other, totally perplexed by the strange question. “Because they were the cheapest at the local thrift store?” Rebecca snarked.  
  
He glared at the fire-fox girl and applied a bit of rhythm pressure to her as he spoke: “No you simpleton, it was to ensure you slept close together.”  
  
After Rebecca had been suitably crushed by his own rhythm he released the pressure from her and re-addressed the group as a whole. “Why would I want that?” The group remained silent. “I want an answer now.”  
  
“Uhhh…”  
  
None of them knew the answer he was looking for.  
  
Blakki bravely raised her hand. “Uhhh, does it have to do with how you taught Colette and Shouri how to give Rebecca and I rhythm by touch?”  
  
Noir smirked. “You’re on the right page, good job.” Blakki smiled, happy she at least got that right. “Etude is the process which rhythm naturally flows from a maestro to their resonator. The closer you are both physically and mentally, the stronger the flow of rhythm will be. In war times maestros and resonators slept that close so if they were ambushed in the night, the resonator could fight off the attacker while the maestro assessed the situation and began providing a proper stream of rhythm.”  
  
Shouri listened intently, considering it was a different side of this world he had yet to hear about. Noir continued on. “Thankfully we live in peaceful times, so such a technique isn’t required for daily survival, however if you wish to master rhythm you need to understand how your ancestors used it.” He looked to Shouri in particular, and smirked; allowing a small chuckle to escape his lips. “Okay, well that’s it for today. Think about your lessons thus far. Tomorrow we will try a practical exercise.”  
  
\---  
  
Later that day.  
  
Shouri and Blakki were busy in the kitchen of the orphanage preparing the orphan’s dinner as had become routine for them. Blakki had noticed her maestro was quieter than usual.  
  
“Sho.”  
  
He didn’t respond, he just chopped some beef that was to be used in today’s stew.  
  
“Sho!” She repeated, adding some volume to her voice.  
  
The boy snapped out of his thoughts. “Yeah?”  
  
“You’re quiet.”  
“I usually am.”  
“Not this quiet.”  
  
The chef set down his knife and glanced down at the partially finished work. “I guess… When Noir mentioned ancestors, he looked at me in particular and laughed to himself, like he was trying to say something.” He admitted. “It bugged me, like he knows something about me that I don’t know.”  
  
Blakki turned back to the stove she was powering at the moment. “When I met your grandparents, they weren’t bothered by my appearance. They just left you in my care.” She spoke aloud. “Maybe someone in your family was a maestro and they knew about it.”  
  
The boy leaned against the counter, looking at the back of his partner as he spoke. “Maybe. Grandpa Marsuru has always been kinda out there, and Grandma Mary always had to reel him in. That being said, he’s always had that weird kind of eccentricity about him that masked his clever side.” He tilted his head back and forth. “Or possibly a scheming side? Dunno, it’s hard to tell with him.”  
  
The lunar resonator giggled. “I thought they were nice at least.”  
  
“I wonder what your family was like.”  
  
The girl stiffened suddenly. She wasn’t sure why, but deep within herself, she felt a sense of dread? Or fear? It was complicated whatever she was feeling, and unfortunately not much more than that: a feeling. Not one she wanted to explore either. A sense of relief took over when Shouri quietly returned to chopping food for the meal he was preparing.  
  
\---  
  
“I think we’ve had enough questions. Let’s get to the meat and potatoes as to why you’re here.” Noir began the eighth morning’s lecture. “At this point in your lives, you’ve been tainted with the true potential of rhythm users. This knowledge was hidden away because a resonator and maestro purely relying on resonator powers are easier to control than those who have full control of their rhythm. Who would like to hazard a guess as to why?”  
  
Rebecca spoke up. “Cause we’re weaker otherwise?” She offered; her arms folded across her chest as she leaned back against the back of the couch their group shared.  
  
“Too short sighted. Any other guesses?”  
  
The group of four remained quiet, not able to think of another reason.

“You’ve already experienced why this is.” Noir added with a smirk.  
  
Shouri looked up slowly. “Wait…” Noir nodded. “That’s so stupid, but effective.” The boy groaned.  
  
Rebecca leaned forward, glaring down the couch at Shouri, “You gonna share with the class?”  
  
“It’s to make sure there’s always an easy way to dismantle the power.” Shouri told his traveling group. “Normal maestros are defenseless without a resonator. If they can distract a resonator, even one with their class skill, then they can take out the maestro with little resistance, or use them as a bargaining chip against the resonator.” He explained, lowering his tone as he spoke. It was a reality none of them really wanted to face.  
  
“That’s what Noir is talking about when he said we’ve already experienced this.” The male maestro added.  
  
“That natural!” Colette shouted out upon realizing what their teacher had meant.  
  
Noir chuckled. “Yes, that fellow turned out to be far more useful than I thought. It’s a shame.” He shook his head. The smirk faded from his face however as he re-addressed the group properly. “I will teach you this technique since your lives are already in great danger. Normally I would refrain from passing this knowledge to most people because the people they will send after you are ruthless and they will not stop until you are erased.”  
  
“This is what you will be able to do when we’re done.” He held out an open palm as if cupping water in his hand. Then out of nowhere what seemed like fire appeared in his hand. It glowed a bright yellow color.  
  
“And now that I’ve shown you this-” He looked to Colette and Rebecca. “-you may want to consider finishing up any unfinished business you may have here.”  
  
Colette gulped. “A-are you saying we’re as good as dead?” She asked, her voice cracking slightly as she spoke.  
  
He wouldn’t vocally acknowledge the question, the man just closed his eyes for a moment, wearing a somber expression before opening his eyes once more to address his students. “Shouri and Colette, I am going to teach you how to burn rhythm. In doing so you can protect yourselves from resonator attacks as well as use it as an offensive weapon against would be attackers. When utilizing this technique, it drains you much faster than using resonator spells. Think of it like you’re running at your absolute top speed, you don’t last long in that state.”  
  
Shouri looked over at Colette, her gaze was trained down, eyes wide, she was visibly trembling. He was used to being hunted by government suits given what Ryo had put them through back in his own world. However, Colette was just a normal girl and now the reality of their situation was hitting. Rebecca seemed nonplussed by the situation, and instead focused on calming her maestro.  
  
The ethereal wouldn’t wait for the girl to finish freaking out however, he launched into his explanation of the technique in question: “The first thing that must be done is you must have a mental image. In the esoteric view of the world of Rhythm one must always focus on that which is important to the burning of it. The true representation of Rhythm burning is not in the mind, but rather within the heart and soul. Since we don't have time to grow your view on what your soul would look like or that section of the mind that one would call the heart, we must use a substitute. A visual image that you can use to truly know what is burning away.”  
  
Blank stares are all Noir would earn from that explanation. “W-what?” Shouri finally mustered up the brainpower to ask.  
  
The rhythm master rolled his eyes. “Just think of something that represents “you”.” Noir sighed.  
  
Returning their teachers eye roll with one of his own, Shouri closed his eyes to concentrate.  
  
What even constituted his “soul”? He couldn’t clear his mind though. His mind kept drifting to Colette. What would she even do when they finally achieved their goal and ultimately left this world?  
  
Colette herself naturally couldn’t concentrate either, she was in total panic mode about her life. All she wanted to do was help a lost boy and his fox-girl out, now she was on a super-secret government hitlist or something.  
  
Noir watched the nothing happening between Shouri and Colette. He pulled a pocket watch from his side and looked at it for a moment, watching the seconds tick by.  
  
“Let's increase the stakes.” Noir spoke up. He slowly raised both of his arms, pointing his open palms towards the group.  
  
“G-Gack!” Blakki gasped out holding her neck. “Blakki?!” Shouri opened his eyes. She held her neck, barely able to take a breath. She flailed in place. Similarly, Rebecca also struggled, unable to make any noise at all. The two maestros looked to Noir who wore a deadly glare.  
  
“I will crush Blakki and Rebecca if you can't stop me using your Rhythm.”  
  
“You wouldn’t!” Colette exclaimed. Something told her he would though. She recalled him mentioning that if that natural hadn’t gotten ahold of them he would have subjected them to a similar experience just to unlock their resonators class skills. The girl struggled to think of how she could get them out of this situation. Her strength was knowledge damn it! How was this so difficult?  
  
It was at this moment she caught eyes with Shouri, he was holding Blakki’s hand. The resonator in question was calm, barely managing to breathe, but no longer struggling. It was easy to see Shouri was panicking as well, but he was also keeping himself even. He wasn’t making a rash action or pleading for mercy.  
  
He was… fighting.  
  
Colette grabbed her partner’s hand and closed her eyes.  
  
What was Rebecca to her?  
  
Her partner. Not just any partner, her childhood friend, her first resonator, her irreplaceable companion. She had no way of knowing where life would take them, she just wanted to express that Rebecca wasn’t a tool to be tossed aside, she was a friend. But now that friend was dying. Noir wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. Noir was an ethereal, a god who couldn’t be punished by mere mortal laws.  
  
It all faded to a true black. What was she?  
  
A cat. A cat of yellow flames appeared within her mind. This cat was curious, didn’t know any better and got herself into trouble. Yeah, that was Colette Severine.  
  
And that same Colette Severine needed to burn to save what was near and dear to her. It sparked a couple times, but the burst of fire she was expecting didn’t arrive.  
  
It was only when she felt a re-affirming squeeze from Rebecca’s hand did the fire truly ignite.  
  
Colette opened her eyes, her body just moved, as if it knew what to do already. In a fluid motion, she stepped forward from the couch and delivered a palm strike to Noir’s outreached hand. Her own palm glowed a fiery yellow as it did so.  
  
Noir smirked as the sounds of gasping could be heard from behind them.  
  
“Excellent.” Noir smirked.  
  
Colette looked to her right, Shouri stared back, his own hand illuminated in yellow flames. Two pairs of glowing, yellow eyes met. “Hey, you did it.” Both maestros said to each other in unison.


	42. Chapter 42

That evening.  
  
“I think that’s enough.” Noir adjusted his white gloves before departing the room. Shouri and Colette collapsed on the ground in front of the couch where Blakki and Rebecca had been sitting on. After their initial use of rhythm, their teacher doubled down to reinforce the lesson they were just taught, attempting to kill their resonators over and over again to this point.  
  
Blakki slid off the couch and wrapped her arms around Shouri. He slowly turned his head over, but he could only see the top of her head. “Grazie mille Sho.” She muttered. Usually it was up to her to protect her maestro, but having the role reversed was something she didn’t like and didn’t want to go through again.  
  
“Hungry, but also too tired to really care.” Shouri groaned, leaning back against the couch.  
  
“Maybe I could try to make something.” Blakki offered, still clinging to her maestro.   
  
It was at this point, Noir returned to the room. “No need, food will be arriving shortly.” He told the group. The ethereal made his way over to his piano and took a seat in front of it. “You have enough time to take a shower.” He added in as a suggestion.  
  
“I wanna go first.” Colette spoke up, shakily getting to her feet. Rebecca hopped off the couch and helped her maestro to the stairs, seeing how she wouldn’t make it under her own strength.  
  
Some time passed. Shouri and Blakki moved back up to the couch proper and just enjoyed the peace and quiet in comparison to the chaos of the training they had to endure earlier. 

  
The pair both turned to look to Rebecca as she re-entered the main room. “Alright, bathroom’s all yours.” She told the pair, her hair wrapped up in a towel and sporting the usual provided evening robes. “Oh, if you leave your clothes outside the door, I’ll do laundry.” The fire resonator added.  
  
“Thanks Rebecca.” Shouri said as he pushed himself up. Blakki hopped up off the couch as well and the pair made their way upstairs to the bathroom.  
  
Closing the door and locking it behind them, they began their bathroom routine. “Ah, stay over here for a moment.” Shouri told Blakki. She nodded as he vanished around the corner with one of the robes. She took a moment to remove her jacket and set it on the sink. It was at that moment she caught her reflection in the mirror.  
  
The fox girl stared at her double reflected on the polished surface.  
  
Shouri’s voice snapped her out of her trance: “Hey Blakki, when you get in the shower, I’ll take your clothes outside before I start heating the water.”

  
With a small sigh, she began removing her own clothing, unceremoniously leaving them in a pile at her feet. She stared at her meager possessions laying on the floor. Now normally this was the point where she would obediently get in the shower like Shouri was asking of her. Instead, she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her exposed chest and mid-section.  
  
“Sho”  
  
The boy, who had been focusing on the water heater, turned to see Blakki standing there, covered only with a towel. Her gaze off to the side and face completely red. Her ears were flattened and tail wrapped around one leg. Upon catching sight of the fox-girl, he turned his head away to hide his own red face.  
  
“H-hey! What’s up!?” He asked loudly, unaware of the volume in his voice.  
  
“Sho” She repeated. The girl bit her bottom lip. Here she was nearly naked in front of him, and she couldn’t get what she wanted to say out. Didn’t Noir say her strength was her willpower?  
  
“I-is something wrong Blakki? What do you n-need?” Shouri continued to keep his gaze firmly away from the nearly nude resonator that stood only a couple of paces away.  
  
Blakki kept biting her lip, her fists were balled up so tight they had turned completely white from the cut off circulation. She trembled, nearly on the verge of tears.  
  
 _“I won’t ever be anything more than that, no matter how much I try.”_

For some reason Rebecca’s words came to mind at that exact moment. Those sad, forlorn words. The words of a girl who had already given up, who had already decided she would live the life of a tool.  
  
 _“You’re a person, not an object.”  
  
_ Blakki unclenched her fists, and released her bottom lip from its entrapment. Her body relaxed. She stepped forward and turned Shouri’s head towards her. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Blakki placed her lips on his, holding him in place for a moment before releasing him. She stepped back. “I… love you Sho…”  
  
He just stared back, eyes completely wide. “I-I… Blakki-” She placed an index finger over his lips. “I know, take your time before you answer me.” The girl smiled warmly. She turned and walked over to the shower. Once in the safety of the curtained shower, she totally freaked out under the cover of water.  
\---  
  
Rebecca stared at Shouri and Blakki. Both were completely quiet since coming back down from their shower. She watched them both reach for the salt shaker that sat on the dinner table.  
  
Their hands met at the shaker in question. They both instantly yanked their hands away from the salt. “Ah! Sorry!” The pair exclaimed, avoiding eye contact with the other. Their faces were both entirely red and they quietly resumed eating.  
  
The fire resonator frowned hard, folding her ears back and narrowing her eyes at the love-struck duo. She herself began to quickly and quietly eat her food. Colette looked over, raising an eyebrow, perplexed at her own resonator’s behavior.  
  
Dinner finished quietly and without incident.  
  
Colette sat alone in the main room, reading one of the books from Noir’s library. The owner of the home in question descended the stairs and stopped in front of Colette. “Interesting title you’ve chosen this evening.” He spoke up.  
  
“Oh?” The maestro looked up from the page she was on. “Y-yeah, you have a lot of good books on rhythm theory I’ve never seen before.”  
  
The elder rhythm user chuckled. “Yes, I would suppose that some of these books would be inaccessible to you due to the current state of affairs.” He walked over to his piano and took a seat in front of it, as usual. Before he began playing however, he spoke up.  
  
“Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt if you challenged your mindset.”  
  
“Huh?” Colette looked up again.  
  
Noir however, didn’t answer and began playing a rather slow piece on his trusty piano. Colette closed the book and listened for a moment. It was a sad, somber tone. The red-haired rhythm user thought it was quite talented that Noir had such a wide range of songs he played. In fact, she didn’t recall a single repeat during their entire week there.  
  
The girl narrowed her eyes, glaring at the back of the man’s head. “Knowing you, there’s a hidden meaning behind those songs.” She grumbled, standing up. The maestro crossed the main room into the library. She shelved the book she had been reading before making her way back across the main room to the stairs.  
  
As she ascended the stairs, Noir’s lips turned up into a smirk.  
  
\---  
  
Blakki stood at the kitchen sink filling a glass of water, her tail swished back and forth behind her happily as she hummed to herself. The back door suddenly opened.  
  
“Che?!” The lunar resonator turned her head to see Rebecca standing there, covered in sweat. The tips of her vibrant red hair had just started to grey. “R-rebecca?! It’s nearly midnight, what are you doing?” As she looked her fire counterpart over, she noticed the girl wasn’t wearing her shoes. There were patches of red skin around her ankles.  
  
The girl gritted her teeth. “Nothing.” She grumbled. Blakki just watched the other resonator limp away, every step seemed painful. Rebecca stumbled around the corner. Not knowing what to do, the fox girl merely listened to her fellow resonator struggle up the stairs and finally close the door to the room she was staying in with her own maestro.  
  
Blakki looked down to the glass of water in her hands and frowned. She slowly made her way up the stairs herself and into the room she was staying in. She stood in the doorway for a moment, staring at the glass of water in her hands.  
  
“What’s up?” Shouri asked.  
  
“Eh?” She looked to her maestro who sat on the edge of the bed, staring back at her, eyebrow raised.  
  
“Your tail is droopy, your ears are folded back and you’re looking at that cup of water like it has the secrets of life in it.” The maestro observed.  
  
The resonator made her way over to the bed and took a seat next to him. “It’s Rebecca.” She started. “She’s pushing herself. I wonder… if she’s been secretly training every night. Her feet look awful.”  
  
The boy mulled that over, frowning hard and humming in thought. “You said before Rebecca feels like a tool, right?” He asked.  
  
The fox-girl nodded slowly. “Yeah…”  
  
“She probably thinks Colette is going to abandon her, especially because she can burn rhythm now.” The two teens looked up, then to each other. They had both had the same thought and vocalized it in unison  
  
The initial shock wore off and Blakki smiled. “I’m glad we’re thinking the same thing.” She giggled. Her smile quickly faded however. “We did this to them Sho… I can’t help but feel bad. We have a home to go back to, but this was their home and now they can’t live here anymore.” She explained, tightening the grip around the glass in her hands.  
  
Shouri sighed audibly. “I fucking told them that they shouldn’t tag along.” He closed his eyes. “I… wonder how much of this has been willing on Rebecca’s part.”  
  
“Sho!”  
“Really Blakki? Really? Think about it.”  
  
The resonator gritted her teeth. “B-but you’re not like that…”  
  
“It doesn’t matter, you know how Rebecca thinks and you know how this world is. If the maestro says something, it’s law. It doesn’t really matter what the resonator thinks. They’ll just shut up and take it.” Shouri reminded his own resonator.  
  
Her grip around the glass tightened further, as she began to tremble. “I-I know… I… feel bad still.” She paused.   
  
Shouri sighed. He closed his eyes and reached over. Blakki looked up as she felt a hand on her head. Her face reddened as she felt Shouri start to stroke her hair.  
  
“Me too…” He said simply.


	43. Chapter 43

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
“Che…?” Blakki and Shouri groggily sat up in bed. Looking around it was still dark outside, the moonlight no longer visible but the sun yet to begin its ascent.  
  
“Get up. You’re leaving in an hour.” The loud, but strangely calm Noir spoke from the other side of the door.  
  
The maestro and resonator looked to each other in a dazed confusion. Wordlessly the pair got out of bed and began to gather their meager possessions, wondering what the sudden rush was.  
  
“Got everything?” Was the first thing Shouri said to Blakki that morning. She responded with a silent nod. With a nod in return, he opened the door, just as Colette and Rebecca were walking by.  
  
The two maestros stopped and stared at each other for a second, before their locked gazes were broken with a blink. “Oh.”  
  
“He wake you two up too?” They spoke in unison, pointing at their counterpart.  
  
Shouri frowned. “The hell’s the rush?” He grumbled, stepping out of the bedroom, his resonator following him.  
  
Colette shrugged. “Dunno. He sounded rushed in his own way.” She noted as they began to walk down the hallway. The quartet descended the stairs to see Noir standing there, looking at his trusty pocket watch.  
  
“I’ve chartered a private flight for you lot.” He told the group upon their arrival to the ground floor. Reaching into his coat pocket the rhythm master retrieved the two tuners that he took from his students and held them out.  
  
Shouri stared at his tuner being offered to him. Having enough of being pushed around, the maestro spoke up, “What’s going on?” He glared at their teacher. Colette glared uneasily as well. “There’s something wrong.” She added.  
  
Noir inhaled deeply then exhaled. “You’re no longer welcome here.” He stated. Shouri gritted his teeth, he could feel the pressure their teacher was giving off. The ethereal meant every word. The mere mortal maestro had no idea what to say in response to that.  
  
Until he saw his own yellow rhythm sparking off his body. Then Shouri Tomoshibi knew exactly what he had to say:  
  
“Why?”  
  
Noir glared back; he saw the yellow sparks arcing between the two maestros. Of course they wouldn’t just obediently obey his whims. They always had to know. It was always like that with these types. “Your mere presence here threatens the stability of this town.”  
  
“But how?!” Colette shouted.  
  
The ethereal slowly turned his head to stare the red-haired maestro down. “Think about it Miss Severine. For just a moment use that brain of yours.” He stated bluntly.  
  
She raised an eyebrow, then looked to Shouri to gauge his reaction. Both he and Blakki were adverting their gazes. From the little she could see of their expression she could read… guilt?  
  
Guilt?  
Guilt.  
  
“Oh.” She breathed out. “I… see.” Her own gaze slowly fell. “So this is what it’ll be like now…” The girl’s voice fell to a whisper. “I get it…” She spoke at a near squeak.  
  
During this entire exchange Rebecca hung her head, staring at her burnt feet wrapped up in a thick layer of bandages.  
  
Noir nodded. “Right. Now that you understand your situation we must act quickly. Follow me.” He walked to the door. For a moment the group of four remained stationary. This was until Shouri stepped forward. With Blakki following him, Colette and Rebecca would fall into place as well.  
  
Silently the group moved through the town. Keeping up with the rhythm master was no small feat, as he was just a hair between a walk and a run. The group of young adults found themselves having to adjust their pace frequently, breaking into a run several times during the ten-minute journey across town.  
  
As they approached their destination the two vixens caught the sounds of an engine idling, not a car engine but a much larger one. The source of the noise would be a large cargo plane that sat all by itself on the runway. Walking straight onto the runway, the misplaced group of teens followed their teacher uneasily. 

A pilot approached the group.  
  
“Master Noir.”  
“Coro, you’re looking well these days.”  
“Of course. If I didn’t, you’d make me collect hailstones again.”  
  
Noir turned to his current students. “This is Coro, he’s a pilot.”  
  
The man chuckled. “As curt as ever. How’re you folks doing this morning.”  
  
“Nervous.” Shouri stated simply. Blakki looked over at her maestro. It wasn’t like him to just outright state his thoughts.  
  
Coro nodded. “Yeah, Master Noir told me what was going on. We can get ya’ll over to New Draxgow, Right?” The pilot looked to the ethereal who had requested the flight. “Correct. That’s where their allies are.”  
  
Shouri frowned, he double checked his tuner. With enough zooming out he found a dot on the map pointing to an area where New York would be in his world. “Here.” He showed the device to their pilot. Coro took a look at it for a moment before giving a thumbs up.  
  
“Yeah that looks like the New Draxgow metro area. Can’t drop ya’ll in the middle of the city obviously, but there’s an intercontinental airport near the city limits.” He explained. “Easy as pie.” The man grinned toothily.  
  
“Who do you have with you today?” Noir asked.  
  
“Alizeh, Neil, and Rabi.”  
“Where’s Skyler? I told you how important this was.”  
“He broke his wing in a raid a week ago. We were careless.”  
  
The rhythm master grumbled something. “Your other resonators will have to pull double time to make up for his absence.”  
  
“I know I know.” Coro sighed. “Trust me, he’s worried sick, especially after I told him what this entails.”  
  
Either way it seemed that Noir wasn’t pleased with that answer. Rather than wasting any more time, he turned to his students once more. “I don’t have Seres’ clairvoyance, nor their muse, so I may only hope you have a safe journey.” The ethereal adjusted his glasses. “You still need to replace these, I’ll have you do that upon our next meeting.” He spoke with the thinnest of smiles.  
  
And with that, the rhythm master took his leave. His former students didn’t really know what to take from the sudden departure.  
  
“Let’s get you folks on board.” The pilot motioned for his passengers to follow him. After a moment of thought the uneasy travelers followed their guide. He led them to a lift where after all five of them were on it, the lift ascended towards the open cargo hold.   
  
The group of young adults couldn’t help but let out an audible gasp of wonder at the huge, open space that the cargo plane had.  
  
“Where are we gonna sit?” Blakki wondered, brows turned up in concern.  
  
Coro smirked and pointed the group to a door near the front of the plane. “Over there.” He attached the lift to the side of the hold, and allowed the group to get on the plane proper. “Go to that door, my resonators are waiting in there to help you all get situated.”  
  
Once the group was standing in the hold the lift backed away from the plane and Coro shut the hatch to the cargo hold, causing the vixens of the group to flinch from the loud noise.  
  
Heeding their captain’s instructions, the group made their way to the door which opened right when they got to it. “Oh! You’re our passengers today!” A small bubbly woman smiled at the group. Blakki and Shouri just stared. Three resonators total occupied the room. Two were in casual attire, and the third stood by another door near the back of the room, wearing a headset and a flight jacket. All three resonators had wings on their backs.  
  
“Come in! Come in!” The woman of the trio cheerily demanded.  
  
Hesitantly the group walked in. Instantly the bubbly winged girl began introductions. “I’m Alizeh-” She pointed to her companion sitting nearby, “That’s Niel.”  
  
“Yo.” He waved nonchalantly, before going back to the tablet he held.  
  
Lastly, she pointed to the resonator by the door. “And that’s Rabi.”  
  
“Morning.” The third resonator gave a short wave as well.  
  
“What’s your names?”  
  
“Shouri.”  
“Blakki, his resonator.”  
“Colette Severine and this is Rebecca.”  
  
Alizeh clapped her hands together, continuing to smile brightly. “It’s nice to meet you all! Let’s sit down and buckle in. Coro and Rabi will handle take-off.”   
  
Taking their seats, and buckling up, the group awaited their departure. Niel remained where he was seated, feet kicked up on a nearby table that was securely bolted to the floor.  
  
“So where are you all from?” Alizeh asked innocently.  
  
“Ah, well Rebecca and I were born and raised in Riva Solare.” Colette answered for their pair. Rebecca remained silent, arms folded across her chest, eyes closed.

The winged girl smiled brightly, not paying much attention to Rebecca’s general disposition. “It is a lovely city!” She turned her attention to Shouri. “And how about you two?”  
  
“California.”  
  
Alizeh continued smiling for a moment before her smile faded. “Cali-fornia?”  
  
“It’s a small place, you’ve probably never been.” Shouri gave her a slight glare as if to say “stop asking.”  
  
She got the hint. “Ahahah…. Y-yeah, you’re probably right.” Turning to Blakki she opened her mouth to ask, but Blakki spoke first.  
  
“I don’t remember, and I don’t want to remember such an awful place.” She replied to the implied question.  
  
Colette and Alizeh stared. Rebecca gave a short nod that went unnoticed by the rest of the group and Shouri didn’t flinch at all, simply remaining where he was sitting. Niel continued to read whatever was on his tablet, not interested in the current conversation.  
  
A silence descended on the room as the cheery winged resonator tried to think of a better topic to switch to. The silence would be ended by the plane’s engines spinning up faster.  
  
Shouri suddenly felt a tight grip around his hand. The source of the pressure being a pale, clammy hand wrapped tightly around his own. Looking at the owner of said hand, his eyes met a very nervous looking Blakki. “H-hey Sho…” Her ears were folded back, eyes wide.  
  
“Yeah?”  
“I just realized something.”  
“What’s that?”  
“The last time I flew was out of a building and into a river.”  
“Oh.”  
  
Alizeh watched the pair stare at each other for a moment before Shouri reached out and grabbed Blakki’s hand. He smiled warmly. “It’ll be okay.” He spoke gently. The winged resonator suppressed a squeal of joy at how cute they were. To her, it was one of the most precious things she had seen.  
  
\---  
  
Five hours passed in relative silence.  
  
The plane began to make its descent, finally touching down at its destination sometime in the mid-afternoon. When the plane finally came to a stop, the door to the pilot’s room opened, and their captain stepped out. “Welcome to New Draxgow!” The man beamed.  
  
“Non-stop flight huh?” Shouri asked.  
  
“We’re all about the quick turnaround.” Niel spoke up, standing and stretching his sorely unused muscles.  
  
Getting to their feet, the group all took a moment to stretch out, having remained stationary for the full five-hour long trip. Alizeh, with her boundless energy, made her way to the back of the room and rushed into the cargo hold. The clattering of metal echoed through the large empty space, finally light shone into the dark hold, as observed from the small passenger room.  
  
“Abbiamo bisogno di aria fresca.” Blakki sighed, stretching out once more.  
  
“I probably agree.” Shouri nodded, taking the initiative to walk into the cargo hold. Blakki would follow, along with Niel. Coro took his exit through the front of the plane, leaving Rebecca and Colette alone.  
  
The maestro held out her hand for her resonator. “Shall we?” She asked. Rebecca ignored the gesture and walked past her maestro, leaving her alone.  
  
Colette’s smile faded as she lowered her hand. “R-rebecca?” She asked, all alone in the passenger’s quarters.

\---  


“Oh wow…” came the gasp from the lunar resonator of the group. In the distance she could see a practical jungle of buildings that towered over the surrounding landscape. The small crowd of resonators and maestros made their way across the tarmac and into the terminal. Even without the forest of skyscrapers in the distance, it was obvious this airport was just as busy as its counterpart from Shouri’s world. There were several planes in the air waiting to land along with several in landing procedures and even more taxying about the airport.  
  
Making their way inside was another task all on its own. As a pilot it seemed Coro and his resonators had access to different passageways that the consumer class would probably never see. The four passengers remained quiet and allowed Coro to handle the talking. Without too much fuss, they were allowed through the terminal into the main lobby. Finally, they ended up in something more familiar to them, Shouri noted it looked like any normal baggage claim, the only difference being resonators running around with their maestros and the occasional natural mixed in for further variety.  
  
Rabi suddenly appeared before the group (Shouri and Blakki had honestly forgotten about the co-pilot resonator) and handed Coro a set of keys along with a small pamphlet. After the pilot himself had looked over the pamphlet, he nodded and turned to his four passengers. “Master Noir had advised me to rent you guys a car. Something about not wanting you lot in the system as much as possible.”  
  
Shouri shrugged and smirked. “We’re popular people, what can I say?”  
  
Coro nodded slowly. “Riiight.” Was all he had to say. He held out the pamphlet and keys for the group. “This is where we part ways. I do wish you luck finding your friend.” For a moment no one moved to grab the items presented to them. Colette looked to Rebecca, the de facto driver of the group. However, when it was plainly obvious she was not making any effort at getting the keys, Colette herself stepped up and grabbed them.  
  
“Th-thank you.” The female maestro spoke uneasily, her mind slowly clouding from her resonator’s strange behavior.  
  
The pilot smiled, not really noticing anything amiss. “No problem at all. I’m still trying to pay off Noir’s training also.” He spoke with a chuckle. “G’day!” He waved before taking his leave with his group of resonators.  
  
And with that the quartet was left to their own devices. They all stood in the bustling airport for a moment, unmoving and silent. “Now what?” Colette spoke up.  
  
With the silence broken, Shouri spoke up as well. “Let’s find somewhere to crash, we can look for Amika once we have a base of operations.” He suggested. Blakki simply nodded in agreement. Lastly was Rebecca. The other three all stared at the fire resonator. Her gaze was adverted, as she stared into space with her arms folded across her chest, ears folded back and tail wrapped around one leg.  
  
Her ears perked up in surprise when she realized the group was staring at her. “What?”  
  
“Is that ok?” Colette asked, brows turned up, wrought with worry.  
  
“Why wouldn’t it be?”  
“I was just asking.”  
“No need to.”  
  
Shouri and Blakki exchanged a quick look of concern as well. Colette frowned hard at her resonator’s increasingly peculiar behavior. She repeatedly told herself it would be alright, they just had to get to safety. “Ok. We should definitely go find a room first.”  
  
A vague sense of a destination guided the group out of the lobby of the airport terminal. In order to retrieve their rental car, they would need to walk a short distance to the parking garage owned by the rental company. According to the pamphlet the car was sitting in a spot on the third floor. They located their new model car with little difficulty.  
  
Upon arriving at the appointed parking spot it was immediately apparent that their benefactor was very careful with the selection of automobile. It was a standard four door car, sporting a silver paint job. It was as average as you could get, not standing out in any particular way. The perfect vehicle to blend into a busy city with. 

Given it was a new car however, it had all the latest features standard, which the group discovered after taking a seat in their new transport.  
  
“Oh wow, this one has a tuner slot, isn’t that neat Rebecca?” Colette noted, placing her own tuner into the console to her right.  
  
While Colette was appreciating the technology, the one thing Shouri noted was the other maestro in question being in the driver’s seat. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but the fire resonator’s continued silence was quite telling. After a moment of awkward silence, the disheartened maestro started the car to provide some kind of backdrop to the ever-increasing silence.  
  
“Sh-shouri, could you find us a place to stay?”  
“Sure.”  
  
The pair in the back exchanged another concerned expression before Shouri got down to trying to locate a hotel using his tuner. The next ten or so minutes consisted of Shouri reading off directions for Colette to follow, all while Rebecca leaned on the arm-rest to her right. Blakki watched the other vixen stare out the window, clearly in deep thought.  
  
Finally, they arrived at a small hotel just on the edge of the city. Parking their car, Colette sat for a moment before deciding to turn the car off. “Alright we’re here.” The maestro announced quietly. Rebecca opened the door to the car and stepped out, throwing the door to the automobile shut with a hard slam. With a heavy sigh, Colette would follow her resonator in departing the vehicle.   
  
Blakki frowned, her gaze slowly falling to her lap, her own mind filled with thoughts of their traveling companions. “What’s up?” Shouri asked. She looked over to her own maestro.  
  
“Non so Sho… I still feel bad about all of this.”  
“Not much we can do. Gotta focus on us.”  
  
The lunar resonator looked back to where Rebecca and Colette were. They were away from the car at this point, and Shouri spoke quietly enough to where Rebecca probably wouldn’t have caught that.  
  
“It still feels wrong.”  
“Never said it was right.”  
“È giusto.”  
  
With that, the fox-girl unbuckled her seatbelt and exited the car, her maestro following suit.  
  
The quartet quietly entered the hotel. Like their choice in transport, this hotel was in all senses of the word average. No red-carpet or concierge service here, this was a budget hotel chain from all appearances. That being said, it was presently sometime in the mid-afternoon, so the hotel itself was quite sparsely populated. They had arrived before travelling businessmen would crowd the lobby, so they at least had that going for them.  
  
Shouri reached behind himself and tapped his back pocket. His lips curved up slightly. Despite everything they had been through his wallet was still firmly behind him as always. Undoing the button that secured his pocket he drew the wallet from its resting place. “I’ll handle the payment.” He spoke up as they approached the front counter.  
  
Colette would immediately protest this arrangement: “But I-”  
  
Shouri shot her down just as fast, flashing his wallet. “Do you have paper cash?”  
  
“Well no but-“  
“We’re trying to stay off the radar, paper money is the best way.”  
“But still, I’d feel bad if you wasted all your money on us.”  
“Your grandfather gave us this cash, so it’ll make me feel better if I cover your lodging.”  
  
The red-head sighed in defeat. “I guess. That does sound like Grandpa Tom.” The thought made her smile warmly for just a moment before her thoughts drifted back to her resonator.  
  
With the arrangement finally decided, Shouri approached the counter proper. There was a quick exchange of money and key cards. The male maestro returned to the three girls in his company. “And now we have somewhere to sleep tonight.” He told them. Blakki smiled and clapped as Shouri handed one of the two cards over to Colette.  
  
The red-haired maestro stared at the card for a moment before looking to her traveling companions. “Ok, I think we’ll get started tomorrow on trying to find your friend.” Colette spoke with an air of uneasiness in her voice, looking over at her resonator. Rebecca had her gaze adverted, glaring into the distance with her arms folded across her chest.  
  
Shouri frowned. “Hrm.” Before he could announce his own and Blakki’s plans a certain noise came to his ears.  
  
A familiar laugh. One burned into his mind. One he could never forget.  
  
“Stop it, you’re being silly.”  
  
Then the voice to accompany it.  
  
“Sho?” Blakki blinked. She didn’t catch the voice her maestro had, so from her perspective all she saw was her maestro turn pale, a ghost white even; as if he had seen something that shouldn’t be there. She herself looked around, but didn’t recognize anyone.  
  
Shouri began scouring the inhabitants of the lobby, looking for the source of the voice he was hearing. Then he saw someone who shouldn’t have been there. Someone that was impossible. The three girls watched the boy grit his teeth and ball up his fist. Then, he ran.  
  
“Sho?!” Blakki yelped at the sudden rapid departure of her maestro.  
  
He saw it: straight, long flowing dirty blonde hair. He followed the owner around the corner. “LINA!” He shouted. He caught sight of an elevator door closing, without much thought he reached out at the last second and grabbed the edge of the door, causing its safety mechanism to trigger and halting the door.  
  
The door slowly opened up as the boy panted hard. Time felt like it slowed to a crawl as his eyes met a pair of eyes he thought he’d never see in this plane again. A pair of brown eyes to match the owner’s dirty blonde hair. A girl of nineteen years. Someone who he knew quite well.  
  
The boy hesitated. He didn’t know how this was possible. But he wouldn’t let that elevator door close until he got his answer. “J-jorgelina Martinez?” He spoke, his voice shaking as he did so.  
  
“I-I am… How… do you know my name?”


	44. Chapter 44

Blakki rushed down the hall she had heard Shouri run down. She had never seen him run so fast in all their time together. Then it hit her ears:  
  
“LINA!”  
  
When she finally caught sight of her maestro again, he was just stepping away from the open elevator. Two people Blakki did not recognize exited the elevator. One was a girl with dirty blonde hair, and next to her was a male. This male in question was a resonator, about a head taller than Shouri, with canine features just like her own. However, where Blakki was a fox, this man’s features were closer to that of a wolf. Larger ears and tail, with a grey that faded into a white. Just like Blakki, this resonator’s eyes were a deep sapphire blue.  
  
“L-lina…” Shouri’s eyes darted back and forth, as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to say.  
  
The girl in question looked equally distressed. She looked to the resonator standing next to her who nodded slowly. “Do you… know who I am?” She asked.  
  
The lunar resonator looked to her own maestro.  
  
“I do.” He replied quietly, his eyes slowing to a halt. “Do you not remember anything?” He asked, now refusing to look the girl in the eyes.  
  
“I don’t.” Lina paused, glancing down for a moment. She balled up her fists, clenching them tightly. After a moment, she relaxed, opening her hands. “You’re who I was looking for.” The girl smiled brightly.  
  
Both Shouri and Blakki stared in shock at the rather brazen comment. “Can we talk somewhere?” She asked. The black-haired resonator looked to her maestro who could only reply with a slow nod.   
  
Making their way to one of the tables out in the lobby, the new group of four sat in awkward silence. Shouri had no idea what to say, and it seemed the other pair was in the same boat, as they remained quiet.  
  
Another couple of minutes passed before Blakki grabbed her maestro’s hand under the table. There was a small spark of rhythm shared between their interlinked hands. Shouri took in a deep breath and held it for a moment before exhaling.  
  
“I think we should start with introductions. I’m Shouri Tomoshibi.”  
“I’m his resonator, Blakki.  
  
Lina nodded. “I’m Jorgelina Martinez.” She looked to her own resonator, who finally spoke for the first time in front of Shouri and Blakki. “Efigenios. Charmed.”  
  
“So you knew who I was.” Lina looked to Shouri.  
“Have you been spying on us?” Efigenios piped up.  
“Effy!” Lina snapped at her resonator.  
“Don’t “Effy!” me! This kid comes running up out of nowhere claiming to know you when we haven’t found a clue in literally years!” The resonator barked back at his maestro, motioning at the suspicious pair sitting across from them.  
“But still! I trust him! Let him talk!” Lina glared. Efigenios bared his fangs towards his maestro, but didn’t offer any further rebuttal.   
  
With that settled, the female maestro turned to the male that sat across from her. “Sorry, he’s a bit over-protective.” She smiled.  
  
Shouri nodded slowly. “Understandable.” He kept his voice even, his brain moving a million miles a minute. “He’s right though Lina, you shouldn’t just blindly trust people.” The maestro commented. Efigenios frowned harder, folding his arms across his chest.  
  
“Alright, so you know me-“  
  
“You taught me how to cook, you’re an excellent chef.” Shouri started. “You’re nineteen years old, your birthday is January 5th, you always complained because people would try to lump your birthday and Christmas gifts together.” The boy kept his gaze on the table as he continued to speak. “You love steak, and can’t help drowning anything with chicken in buffalo sauce. Your favorite sweet is chocolate, and you hate nuts in them because they ruin the soft texture.” He rattled off as if this was common knowledge. Lina and Efigenios just stared. Blakki too stared at her maestro, but for a different reason.  
  
“When you shower, you make sure the water is as hot as it goes to make a kind of mini sauna for yourself. The bathroom always ends up totally soaked afterwards. No matter where you go you can’t help butting into other people’s affairs, finding some way to help if there’s something wrong.” He paused to allow the pair sitting across from him digest this. 

Lina did ponder this for a moment. “O-okay. You’ve proven your point.” She spoke, having been shaken at just how much this seemingly random person knew about her.  
  
“You’re not convincing me that you’re not a stalker.” Efigenios glared at the man sitting across the table from him. Shouri’s eyes snapped towards his direction. The resonator gulped, edging back a little. There was a strange yellow glow in the maestro’s eyes, and it suddenly became harder to breathe.  
  
“So where do I come from? I want to find my home.” Lina pleaded to Shouri. The boy’s glare directed at her resonator faded as he heard her heart-felt wish. He sighed, closing his eyes.  
  
After a moment of thought, the maestro opened his eyes and reached behind his back, grabbing his wallet. Opening it up, he drew out his driver’s license. He placed it face-down on the table, then slid it over to Lina. Curious, the girl picked it up. Efigenios leaned over and looked at the card as well.  
  
“California…”  
“Kaleefornya?”  
  
Lina pronounced it perfectly, while Effy raised an eyebrow at the strange name. “California…” She repeated. “California.” Once more. It was so familiar to her. “Where is California?” She asked, looking up from the card.  
  
Another sigh from Shouri. “Another world.” He told the girl.  
  
SLAM  
  
Efigenios slammed the table and stood up. Before he could start ranting at the strange boy, Lina spoke up again.  
  
“I knew it.”  
  
The resonator looked over at his maestro, baffled at her response. She smiled warmly as she spoke, closing her eyes. “California, it’s so clear to me. It makes so much sense.”  
  
“You woke up here two years ago with no memories at all, and only passing familiarities to some things, right?” Shouri asked.  
  
Lina opened her eyes and nodded. “Yes, how did you know?”  
  
“Simple.” He pointed to his own resonator. “That’s exactly what happened to Blakki, but in reverse.” The lunar resonator in question nodded slowly. 

“Wait, if that’s true, how did you both get here then?”  
“Some psychopath from our world hates rhythm and kicked us out.”

  
Effy folded his arms across his chest and rolled his eyes. “Sounds like a pleasant place.”  
  
“It’s about the same as here. People judge you for superficial things, like your skin color or how foreign your name sounds.” Shouri resumed glaring at Effy. The resonator once again felt uneasy about the harsh expression the other maestro shot in his direction. Looking back to Lina, Shouri spoke once more.   
  
“Rose told us how to get back to our world, so after we get a couple of our friends back, we will be returning to our world.” He paused for a moment. “Would you want to join us?”  
  
Lina, Effy, and Blakki all stared at the boy.   
  
\---  
  
“Sho…” Blakki stood at the end of their bed in their hotel room. The boy laid on the left side, arms behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. “What are you thinking about?” The vixen asked. Since they returned to their room, he had been quiet, and barely moved from the spot he laid in.  
  
He inhaled deeply, then exhaled. Sitting up, he stared at Blakki. “I got a lot to think about. My best friend, my ex-girlfriend is back from the dead.” The boy stared at his partner, who returned a concerned expression.  
  
“H-how can you be so sure she returned from being dead?” Blakki asked. Before she even finished her sentence, she watched her maestro’s expression morph into a glare.  
  
“I watched her die. I watched the firefighters pull her charred corpse from the remains of my home. I watched the doctors pronounce her dead at 1:22AM on August 31st. I attended her funeral and watched her family cry over her coffin. I watched all of this happen over and over again every time I slept for months after.” The room fell to silence.  
  
“She died.” He practically growled.  
  
The fox-girl looked at the ground, fiddling with the edge of her shirt. “S-so how are you sure this is the same person?” She asked.  
  
“I knew her for seventeen years, I know who my best friend is.”  
  
Ever so slightly the fox-girl trembled, it took all of her willpower to not burst into tears. “…V-vedo…” She finally managed to choke out. She walked over to the right side of the bed and laid down, back towards her maestro. “Buona notte… Shouri…”


	45. Chapter 45

The next day  
  
“This is Jorgelina Martinez, and her resonator Efigenios.” Shouri introduced Colette and Rebecca to their new traveling companions.  
  
Lina smiled, extending her hand to the other maestro. “N-nice to meet you, I’m Colette.” Hesitantly, the red-haired maestro shook the other girl’s hand.  
  
Colette looked to the male maestro of the group. He didn’t like the annoyed smile she was shooting him. “Shouri, a moment of your time please.” She then grabbed his jacket and pulled him away from the group. Both Blakki and Rebecca stayed where they were, both oddly silent about the whole situation.  
  
When they were a safe distance away, Colette began the interrogation  
  
“Who are these people? I thought we were looking for an “Amika”; they don’t look like who you described.”  
“Lina is someone from my world who went missing two years ago. She doesn’t have any memories.” 

“Okay… and she just accepted that she’s from your world?”  
“Yeah, she’s really trusting; borderline naïve that one.”

“I don’t feel easy about this.”  
“I don’t expect you to, but I’m not leaving her here.”  
  
Colette glanced around her traveling companion at the other pair. They were just chatting among themselves; they were too far away to hear about what. She turned back to her interrogatee.  
  
“What if this is a trap?”  
“Why would you think it’s a trap?”  
“It’s awfully convenient that someone from your world just happens to show up with no memories, don’t you think?”  
“I’m not leaving her here. If this is a trap, then these two are the best fucking actors I’ve ever seen and I deserve to get back-stabbed.”  
“It’s not just you!”  
  
The other four heard that and looked over, concerned about the sudden shouting.  
  
“Smooth.”  
“Hush! I’m not wrong.”  
“Neither am I.”  
“Ugh there’s no winning with you!”  
  
Before Colette could rush around him back to the group, he grabbed her by the shoulders to stop her.  
  
“What’s eating you up?”  
“Huh?”  
“You’re oddly defensive right now.”  
“Am not!”  
“Is it about Rebecca?”  
  
The girl tensed up, lowering her head. Shouri watched her just stare at the ground for a moment before she spoke again.  
  
“How do you know?”  
“Blakki and I noticed something off about Rebecca a bit ago.”  
  
“I see…” Colette paused, uneasy about discussing her personal matters with Shouri. After a moment of thought she spoke: “She’s gotten really distant out of nowhere. She wouldn’t even talk to me last night, she just kinda went to sleep while I was in the shower. She didn’t even eat dinner.”  
  
The male maestro contemplated just telling her what he thought was going on based on his own and Blakki’s observations, but ultimately decided on dancing around the issue.  
  
“Maybe she’s just tense because we have a target on our backs.” He decided on, vaguely hinting at the actual issue. He felt it wasn’t his place to jump into other people’s issues.  
  
Colette nodded in agreement. “You’re probably right; I just wish she’d talk to me about it.”  
  
Finally, they returned to their group. “Welcome back.” Lina smiled. “So, what _are_ you all even doing here by the way?” Effy finally spoke. “I want to double check that I’m not getting myself involved in anything ridiculously illegal right now.” He clarified.  
  
Shouri pulled his tuner from his side. “Some of our friends have been in this city for some time, so we’re gonna find them and-” He stopped mid-thought, staring at the screen.  
  
Lina raised her brows, concerned about the sudden pause. “Shouri?”  
  
“Son of a BITCH!” He barked as loud as possible. The boy had to resist throwing the tuner at the ground in sheer frustration.  
  
“The fuck?” Effy raised an eyebrow too, but in confusion.  
  
“Fuck fuck fuck!” He continued cursing. Deciding to let the rest of the world know what was going on, he turned his tuner towards the rest of the uninformed. “She was here last night, and this morning she’s all the way across the damn ocean! How the fuck does that happen?!”  
  
“Usually a plane.” Effy commented. He received an elbow to the side from his maestro. “What?” He asked.  
  
“Not helping.” Lina scolded her resonator. This just earned an eyeroll and folded arms from the resonator in question.  
  
“Now what?” Colette asked, now that their primary reason for coming to the city was gone.  
  
Shouri paced back and forth. “That’s a good fuckin’ question.” He grumbled. The boy turned to their newly acquired traveling companions. “You wouldn’t happen to know any private pilots, would you?” He asked.  
  
“Do I look like the kinda guy that just has pilots in his back pocket?”  
“Effy…”  
“What? He asked.”  
“Not helping Effy…”  
“Fine, I’ll go over here while the adults talk.”  
  
And with that, Effy departed the group. Lina couldn’t help but giggle. “Don’t mind him.” Her smile faded quickly however. “Can I see that map again?” She asked. Shouri grumbled something and tossed the tuner to Lina, who quickly scrambled to catch it. The map was left up on the display, and a quick pivot around showed her what she needed to know.  
  
“Looks like they went to Unis-Résonne.” She commented. Colette peered over the other girl’s shoulder.  
  
The dot on the map was slowly moving east south east, towards a small strip of land in an inland sea. “I think they’re heading towards Quiretteh.” This earned an annoyed grunt from her. “That’ll make things tricky.”  
  
The brown-haired male stopped his pacing and turned to the other maestros. “Great, do tell.”  
  
“Well, we’re-” Colette glanced uneasily at Lina; she wasn’t sure how much this new “friend” had been told about their situation, so she would choose her words carefully. “-popular people, so heading to the capital of the world government is a bit dicey.”  
  
Taking his tuner back from Lina, he stared at the map. “That looks like Italy.” He commented. “If I had to take a guess this capital city is probably right here?” He asked, pointing to the spot on the map where his world’s Rome was.  
  
“Oh yes, how did you know?” Colette asked, surprised at the seemingly random guess.  
  
Another annoyed growl from the already enraged maestro. “Let’s just say these things have a pattern.”  
  
“So now what? Our goal hopped across the ocean before we could get her.” Colette asked. The trio of maestro’s stood in silence for a couple of minutes before a low growl came from Lina.  
  
“Ahaha… I didn’t eat breakfast this morning.” She admitted, laughing off the embarrassment.  
  
Shouri sighed, but smiled. “Let’s grab an early lunch and decide our next move.”  
  
“So what are you all feeling?” Lina asked innocently enough.  
  
\---  
  
After another hour of indecision, the maestros of the group decided to just find a quick place to eat. The small crowd of six took seats around one of the larger seats at the eatery they had decided to have lunch at.  
  
The energetic waitress approached the table with a smile. “How can I help you folks-” her smile fading upon catching sight of Blakki. “-today…”  
  
“We’re still deciding.” Lina replied, returning the previous smile. The waitress quickly departed the table without another word.  
  
The amnesiac maestro looked to her partner, who was still browsing the menu. “Whatcha thinkin’?” She asked.  
  
“Dunno.” Effy replied simply, still perusing the menu himself.  
  
Shouri, sitting next to the pair, carefully eyed Lina. “Hmmm.” His gaze reluctantly shifted back to his own menu. The waitress returned minutes later and took the groups orders.  
  
“I’ll have the Buffalo chicken”  
“Hmmm, give me what he had.”  
  
The other four in the group watched Lina and Effy get into a small playfight over their order choices. “And you sir?” The waitress addressed Shouri now. His eyes fell on his first choice: the buffalo chicken wings. He frowned hard. “Give me a burger.” He decided.  
  
Without missing a beat Blakki spoke up. “Same.” When the Lunar resonator spoke, the waitress seemed to write much more than she should have for a simple burger order. Shouri’s eyes flashed a slight yellow, as his frown seemed to curl further down his face.

“Uhhh, whatever this pasta nonsense is.” Colette had already folded back up her menu and held it out for the waitress, who took it back begrudgingly.  
  
Lastly was Rebecca, who after a moment nodded and also folded up her menu. “Water please.”  
  
“Eh?” Colette blinked and looked to her partner. “Are you sure you don’t want anything?” The maestro asked her resonator.  
  
The fire resonator in question nodded slowly. “I am fine.” The table remained quiet for a moment before the waitress cut in:  
  
“Alright, I’ll get that order right up!” Gathering up the remaining menus the waitress quickly fled the scene. 

“So-” Shouri folded his hands in front of his face, leaning in slightly. “-how are we getting to Europe?” He began the discussion. However, the table remained quiet. The boy thought about what he said for a moment before grimacing in annoyance. “God damn it, meant Unis-resowhatever.”  
  
“Ah! Sorry!” Lina cried out. “Uhhh, I mean Effy was kinda right this morning, we should just take a plane. If you’re as “popular” as you say you are, then I would imagine that taking a boat would just make you more prone to being attacked by your… uh… “fans” yeah.”  
  
Shouri rolled his eyes. “Good word. Yeah, our “fans” are definitely a rowdy bunch for sure.” He chuckled, though still not appreciating the situation.  
  
“How did you all get here anyways?” Effy queried.  
  
“Took a cargo plane.” Colette chimed in.  
  
“Can we just do that?” Effy turned his attention to Colette. The girl frowned and hummed in thought.  
  
After a moment she looked back up and addressed the question. “I don’t think so, Master Noir had a favor called in.”  
  
Effy leaned back in his seat, throwing his head back. “Ugh, you people are so fucking annoying. Can’t anything with you lot be simple?” He groaned. “I’ve known you collectively for less than twenty-four hours, but I swear you’ve taken three years off my life.”  
  
Lina ruffled her resonator’s hair. “Behave Effy.” She chided him with a giggle. Almost instantly the pair broke into another playfight. The rest of the table went quiet as they were regulated to effectively third wheel(s).  
  
A minute or two later, the food arrived. The waitress began setting food in front of each person: Lina, Effy, Colette, Rebecca, Shouri and finally, Blakki. Lina was staring intently at the final tray the waitress picked up as she moved around the table. The maestro didn’t take her eyes off of it the entire time it made its way around to its intended recipient.  
  
As soon as Blakki’s tray was set down however, Shouri immediately swapped his own tray with hers.  
  
“Eh?” The waitress seemed perplexed by the sudden move.  
  
The boy stared at the waitress with an apathetic expression. “I liked the look of her fries more.” He spoke evenly. His lips slowly turned into a smirk. “We ordered the same thing. There should be no difference between our burgers, right miss?” The maestro was at a near giggle-fit, almost struggling to not burst out laughing.  
  
Despite the factual accuracy of Shouri’s statement, the waitress seemed to pale at the unspoken implications of the question. “Oh! I think the chef may have forgotten something! Let me take that right back sir! My apologies!” And with that Shouri was the only one without a dish.  
  
“What was that all about?” Effy asked, looking back in the direction of where the waitress had retreated to.  
  
Rather than one voice speaking up, there were two:  
  
“From the browning on the outside as well as the distinct lack of steam or juice it looked like it was flash seared; probably less than thirty seconds at that, which wouldn’t have gotten the meat to the minimum safe temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.”  
  
The other four stared at the pair that was speaking in a strange, nearly perfect unison.  
  
“Therefore, I can conclude, the burger wasn’t properly cooked specifically to make Blakki sick.” Shouri and Lina both nodded wearing confident smiles.  
  
Effy cleared his throat to break the silence. “What the fuck was that?” He asked.  
  
“Eh?” Lina blinked. “I just explained why Shouri switched the trays.”  
  
“Yeah, so did he. Using the exact same words. You both sounded like creepy twins” Effy pointed over at Shouri who stared back.  
  
After taking a moment to regain his composure, he offered a shrug. “I wasn’t kidding when I said you taught me how to cook.” The boy shook his head. “Though I am glad you didn’t get rusty.”  
  
Lina simply laughed in response.  
  
Effy and Blakki both didn’t seem amused by this however. 


	46. Chapter 46

That evening.   
  
A jacketless Shouri walked down the stairs into the lobby of the hotel. In his hand he held a small bucket. He made his way over to the ice machine in one of the small rooms adjacent to the lobby. As he began to fill the container with ice, he heard Lina in the lobby:  
  
“I still don’t really remember anything Effy.”  
“Are you sure? You seemed pretty chummy with that Shouri kid.”  
“Yeah… it’s only that, a familiarity.”  
“If you insist.”  
  
There was a pause in the conversation.  
  
“You know I love YOU right? This is my life now. Whatever I had in that other world is gone.”  
  
Shouri gulped, back pressed against the wall, eyes wide and clutching the bucket of ice in his arms for dear life. His mind raced as what he had feared was confirmed just in the next room over.   
  
“I know, you know me, I’m just-”  
“It’s okay, I understand. Come on, let’s go get you some ice cream.”  
  
This left their unintended eavesdropper alone with his thoughts, which continued to rage on in his head. His eyes darted back and forth as he felt his heart practically throb in his throat.  
  
SLAM  
  
Blakki suddenly sat up as the door was rapidly opened and slammed shut. Shouri stood there with a bucket of half-melted ice.  
  
“Shouri what’s going on?” Blakki asked.  
  
“I-it’s nothing.” The boy raised his arm to cover his eyes, dropping the slightly crushed bucket onto the nearby table and hobbling over to the bathroom. Blakki grabbed his shoulder.  
  
“What’s wrong?” She asked. He refused to turn around, still covering his face. They stood in silence for a moment. Blakki just stared at her maestro’s back, her face slowly contorting into a glare. “…It’s Lina isn’t it?!” The fox girl felt her tail bristle up from the sheer anger she was feeling. Shouri slowly dropped his arm to his side.  
  
“Seventeen years.”  
  
Holding her glare, the vixen raised an eyebrow.  
  
“I knew her for seventeen years. The last time I saw her alive she was crushed under two tons of flaming rubble.” The boy turned around, his eyes red and puffy from crying. “Can you have just an OUNCE of respect for my feelings?!"  
  
Blakki gritted her teeth harder. “And can you move on?! It’s been two years! She’s moved on!”  
  
“SHE doesn’t have any memories!”  
“SHE’S happy now! Do you really want to do that to her?!”  
“Do WHAT?!”  
  
The resonator sighed, dropping her aggressive stance. “You know, for someone who’s strength is supposed to be knowledge, you sure are stupid.” With that, the girl walked to the door.  
  
“Where do you think you’re going?”  
“On a walk. Maybe you’ll come back to reality if I give you some time alone.”  
“Absolutely not.”  
  
Her hand was already on the doorknob. She released it and turned to the boy glaring her down. “What are you going to do to stop me?” Her eyes drifted down to the tuner on his waist. Shouri’s eyes met the object in question as well.  
  
“I want you to listen to reason, not dead.” He replied grimly. “If you leave, you’ll end up dead.”  
  
Blakki’s bitter frown deepened. Her eyes glowed blue as the tuner left Shouri’s waist and flew into the waste bin nearby. Before any further protest could be made, she turned and left the room.  
  
SLAM  
  
“Blakki!” Shouri barked. He sighed, glaring at the ground, trembling from the flames of rage that his resonator had fanned up into a wildfire of emotion. He took in a deep breath “FINE! FUCKING LEAVE ME! SEE IF I CARE!”  
  
\---  
  
Blakki stomped down the stairs, gritting her teeth in frustration. She just couldn’t understand how she could open her heart to him and he still had eyes for another girl.  
  
She was so lost in her own thoughts and anger that she didn’t even pick up on the muttering and dirty looks that people were shooting in her general direction. If anyone stepped in her way, it wouldn’t be pretty.   
  
Even the cool sea breeze that washed over her upon exiting the hotel did nothing to cool the fire in her heart. She didn’t know where she’d go, but she just needed to go somewhere and think, to be alone with her thoughts. The girl stuffed her fists into her pants pockets and trudged on, continuing her goalless pilgrimage   
  
Onward she walked, just thinking about her and Shouri, everything they had been through. Her pace began to slow after some time until she came to a stop, hanging her head in shame.  
  
“Cosa sto facendo?” She asked herself, slowly shaking her head. Her ears twitched. Now that she thought about it, there had been a strange shuffling behind her since she left the hotel. To her left was an open alleyway. She furrowed her brow in frustration before suddenly bolting into the alleyway.  
  
A chain link fence topped with barbed wire blocked the way. However, where most would see entrapment, Blakki saw an opportunity. She spun on her heel and skidded to a stop just in front of the fence, facing her pursuer. Her tail bristled up in anticipation of the oncoming fight.  
  
Her opponent was actually a pair. A resonator and maestro. A solar resonator at that. The glow of the tuner slightly illuminating her attacker’s face. A pair of women. There two were probably hand-picked to deal with Blakki, meaning this wasn’t an ordinary mugging, but a calculated attack.  
  
The lunar resonator didn’t know what to do, but her mind was focused on the tuner the opposition held.  
  
“Luce del Sole, Forte!”  
  
Blakki kicked up a trash can lid near her feet, which took the attack. In the confusion, she focused her mind on the tuner held by the enemy maestro. She was in luck, whoever was after them wasn’t aware of their skillset, as the device was ripped from its owner’s hand and flew straight into Blakki’s. Before either the resonator or maestro could move to tackle Blakki, her ring finger shifted and pressed down on the red control button.   
  
The trio of combatants stood for a moment. Blakki, staring at her opponents with an apathetic stare, the glow of the tuner under her to accompany the blue glow of her eyes. The solar resonator and her maestro now only illuminated by a faint street light in the distance. The aggressors stepped forward to reclaim their stolen tuner.  
  
However…  
  
“STOP HER!” The new owner of the tuner cried out. The solar resonator stopped in place, and grabbed her maestro.  
  
“H-hey what are you doing?!” The maestro cried out, being ensnared by her own resonator. Despite how hard the woman struggled, her resonator kept her in place with an almost robotic-like grip.  
  
Blakki continued to hold the red control button, eyes darting all around; what could she do with this power? She could have the resonator kill her maestro, and then herself. That would ensure they wouldn’t come after them…  
  
The lunar resonator’s eyes widened as she stared at the device in horror, upon realizing what she was thinking of doing and how easy it would be.  
  
She gulped, biting her bottom lip. Ultimately, the girl just didn’t have it in her to kill someone like that. These people were probably just doing their job. It wasn’t worth their lives. Blakki brought the tuner closer to her lips to give her decree: “Take your maestro to the ocean, then fall asleep for two days. Do not listen to any further commands until you wake up.”   
  
With that the resonator robotically turned around and walked out of the alley, with her maestro screaming in protest the entire time. When they were gone, the vixen visibly shuddered at the device she was holding and chucked it into a nearby dumpster.   
  
Walking out of the alleyway herself, Blakki began to head back to the hotel. She returned to stewing in her own thoughts. Only a couple of minutes would pass like that however, as she came to a sudden stop. Her ears stood up straight. She couldn’t hear anything around her, it was dead quiet, but at the same time, she felt there was something wrong.  
  
In her mind she could feel it  
Something was definitely wrong  
But what?  
Her mind kept screaming at her “Something is wrong”  
Slowly, her eyes widened, as a cold sweat permeated her form.  
  
She figured out what the problem was.  
  
“SHO!” She bolted from where she was standing and rushed down the dark street as fast as her body could carry her. “Andiamo, cazzo!” She cursed. Her mind raced faster than she was moving, her eyes glowed a bright blue as she attempted to will her body to move even faster. It didn’t feel like it to Blakki herself, but she in fact did move even faster than top speed, clearing much more ground than she was able to normally.   
  
The girl skidded to a hard stop in front of the hotel they were staying at, then flew into the building. The desk attendant felt the wind as a black blur cleared the lobby in record breaking time and flew up the stairs.   
  
The vixen stood in front of their room door, coated in a thick layer of sweat, and struggling to catch her breath. Before she could even knock, she stared at the frame.  
  
The door was slightly ajar.   
  
Her breathing intensified, not from the land speed record she just broke, but fear. She uneasily pressed her index finger against the door and pushed it open. Her wide, blue eyes met a totally destroyed room, shattered glass littered the ground, the desk lamp was smashed, the TV was on the ground next to the bed.   
  
“Sh-sho..?” The fox-girl trembled. “Sho..?” She called out again, stepping into the room.   
  
The room remained nauseatingly quiet.  
  
“Calm down Blakki-girl… calmati…” She repeated uneasily as she stepped around the battlefield that was once their hotel room. “I gotta find a clue of what to do. That’s what Sho would do.” The vixen was doing her best to try and not succumb to her emotions, but was rapidly losing ground.   
  
Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be anything remotely obvious to her. She fell to her knees on the ground. “Ahahaa… Cosa devo fare? I’m useless without Sho…” Before she completely lost it however, she spotted one of the hotel provided notepads laying among some of the toiletries that had been knocked to the ground. The notepad by itself was of little consequence, what caught her eye was the fact that there was quite a bit of writing adorning the top page. She picked up the notepad and looked it over. The first and most obvious thing was the large pen mark going from where the writing stopped across the paper. Whoever was writing this was interrupted mid-thought it seemed. Looking back at the top, Blakki saw her name.  
  
  
 _“Blakki,_  
  
 _I need you to read this. I have so much to say, but I don’t think I can express it properly with words._  
  
 _The first thing is I have something to admit to you: Lina and I’s relationship wasn’t that good. The more I think about it, the more I realize we were maybe a few weeks from breaking up._  
  
 _We got into a huge fight before she went on vacation (one I was supposed to go on with her, mind you). The night of the fire she came over to my place so we could work it out. We did, but it was kinda shaky still._  
  
 _She saved my life though. She either saw or heard the floor above us was about to collapse and pushed me out of the way. I think maybe I don’t love her anymore. Maybe I’m just in love with the idea that she saved me._  
  
 _What I’m really trying to say Blakki is: You were absolutely right, I shouldn’t butt into her happiness and I think that you and I need to talk abou”_  
  
  
Blakki stared blankly at the page, tracing the end of the final “U” all the way up to the top of the page. She sat there, staring at the paper in her hands. The girl started to tremble, hot tears splashing onto the page, then her fists tightened, nearly threatening to tear the letter from the grip.  
  
Whoever attacked Shouri; no, whoever attacked HER maestro was going to PAY


	47. Chapter 47

The solo lunar resonator made her way back towards the entrance of the hotel. She didn’t have a concrete plan, but her initial thought was: if the first attack on her failed, a second one wouldn’t be too far behind.   
  
“Blakki!”  
  
The girl stopped in place, just in front of the door. The automatic glass door slid open, allowing the outside air to waft inside. She stood still for a moment, contemplating ignoring the call, before finally sighing and turning to face the owner of the voice.   
  
Colette and Rebecca ran up. “Oh, thank god you’re alright!” The maestro grabbed Blakki’s shoulders, giving her a once over.  
  
Rebecca looked around before turning her attention to her fellow resonator. “We saw your room, looks like a hell of a fight.” She commented.  
  
“We got attacked too. Whoever attacked us has old information. They didn’t know I could use rhythm, nor did they know Rebecca had her class skill.” Colette stepped back from Blakki. “Where’s Shouri?” She asked innocently enough.  
  
Blakki’s gaze slowly fell. She muttered something inaudible.  
  
“Eh?” Colette blinked, not catching what had been said. Rebecca’s ears twitched, and her expression morphed into one of confusion, as she hadn’t heard the other fox-girl correctly.  
  
The black-haired girl looked up, tears streaming down her cheeks. “He’s. Gone.” She spoke through gritted teeth. “I fucked up okay? It’s all my fault.” She struggled to keep her voice even as she spoke.   
  
“Wait, what happened?” Colette asked, utterly confused.  
“You guys are way better than us, how?” Rebecca asked.  
  
The lunar resonator looked away. “We got into a f-fight, and I stormed out. I was followed and j-jumped. After I forced them away, I ran back here to find the room the way you saw it.” She explained, continuing to lose to her wild emotions.  
  
Rebecca gulped, slowly adverting her own gaze. Colette however, failed to notice this and continued to direct her attention to Blakki. “How long ago was this?”  
  
“Probably not long after we were all attacked.”  
  
The trio turned to see a concerned Lina holding onto the arm of an aggravated Effy. The annoyed resonator continued to speak: “So you all want to come clean with what the hell is going on?”  
  
“We’re broken.” Rebecca grumbled, gazing at the ground.  
  
Effy raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t explain shit.”  
  
"Someone is after us because we know too much. They probably have been keeping an eye on you two as well. As soon as you met us, your fate was already sealed.” Colette explained.  
  
The male resonator of the group chuckled hollowly. Before he could give some sarcastic retort, his maestro spoke up. “Haha, that’s awesome!” Lina beamed.  
  
“Eh?!” The group looked to the girl like she was crazy.  
  
“Knowing things that nobody else knows. The sense of danger, the adventure! Seeing things no one else is supposed to see.” The girl held her hands up to the sky as if beckoning god themselves to come down and congratulate them. Lina looked to her fellow maestro. “Isn’t that romantic?” She asked.  
  
Colette turned her brows up in confusion, her mouth hanging at the audacity of that statement. That’s when she noticed the girl’s eyes glowing a distinct red color. “I see… that is certainly a-” She paused to consider her choice of words. “-unique perspective.”  
  
While this was going on, Blakki stared at the letter from Shouri. She read it over and over again, making sure to carve every word into her memory. As she did so, something felt off. Every other blink, her surroundings changed. When she became cognizant of this phenomenon, it stopped. “Che…?” she looked up from her letter. The rest of the group was staring at her.  
  
“What?” She asked.  
  
“What yourself.” Effy replied.  
  
“You looked totally zoned out.” Colette clarified.  
  
The lunar resonator glanced down at the crumbled paper in her hands. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before exhaling. Slowly, she opened her eyes, facing the group with a confidence. “I know exactly where he’s at.” She stated calmly.   
  
“How?” Colette asked, being the first to speak up.  
  
The vixen tapped her temple. “I’m psychic remember? I guess some kinda clairvoyance or something.”  
  
“Lunars don’t have that.” Effy retorted.  
  
Blakki shot the male resonator a nasty look. “Yeah, all you solars have is moving wind, how useful.” She taunted sarcastically.  
  
Effy clicked his tongue, looking down on the smaller resonator. “You wanna say that again?” It was at that point he felt a certain aura from the resonator.  
  
“Non ho bisogno di Sho qui per farti mangiare sporcizia.” The pressure Effy felt only intensified. He gritted his teeth as he knew this crushing feeling was coming from Blakki, but he couldn’t explain how she was doing it with no maestro.  
  
Lina stepped between the two resonators. “Hey hey, break it up you two. We’re in this together.” She reminded the pair. “Since they attacked us also.” The amnesiac maestro looked to Colette and Rebecca. While the fire resonator looked a bit uneasy about the arrangement, Colette gave a short, re-affirming nod.  
  
With that out of the way, Lina looked to the maestroless resonator. “Blakki, do you really know where Shouri is?”  
  
The girl shrugged and smirked. “Certo che sì.”  
  
\---  
  
The two pairs of maestro and resonators followed Blakki down the street. They advanced further in to the city, the natural skyline being replaced by larger skyscrapers. The group followed their guide quietly, but she just kept walking, every so often reaching into her pocket and pulling something out.  
  
After some time, Effy got annoyed enough to speak up: “Hey! Do you _actually_ know where you’re going?!” He shouted.  
  
“Duh!” She shouted back.  
  
“Doesn’t seem like it!”  
“You try chasing a moving point with no actual directions and let me know how easy it is!”  
  
Lina frowned. “Hold on; Blakki?” The resonator came to a stop, turning to the group who in turn formed a small circle. “He’s being moved?” Lina asked for clarification.  
  
“Sì.” She nodded. “Not really sure, but I’m thinking it’s a truck or something. Too dark to really tell but you can hear the engine.” The lunar vixen told her traveling party.  
  
The rest of the group remained quiet for a moment. “Just to be clear: we’re chasing a truck?” Effy asked. Blakki nodded. “On foot?” He asked, folding his arms across his chest. She frowned at that question.  
  
“We have a car, let’s just go back and grab that.” Colette chimed in. While the other three all easily agreed with this and started walking back the way they came, Blakki looked to the direction she could feel her maestro from and bit her bottom lip. They were starting to waste precious time. She stood on the sidewalk for a moment looking between the direction to get to her maestro and then back to her retreating “allies”  
  
After weighing her options and releasing a heavy sigh, the lunar resonator turned and ran the opposite direction from their destination, having decided that having allies was better in the long run.  
  
Blakki caught up just in time to be part of the conversation. “What do we know about these people?” Effy asked.  
  
“They’re well-funded. Probably government.” Colette replied, looking to her resonator.  
  
Rebecca nodded in agreement. “They burst into our dorm room, guns blazing.” The fire resonator shuddered recalling staring down the barrel of a rifle.  
  
Lina stroked her chin in thought, digesting this info. “They came at us with resonators and maestros this time.” She pondered aloud. “Maybe they didn’t want to cause a fuss?”  
  
“Well they fucked that up. We had people opening their doors and staring down the hall when we gave ‘em the boot.” Effy rolled his eyes. “Shoulda sent better goons. Wasn’t even a challenge.”  
  
“What were their elements?” Blakki chimed in from behind.  
  
“Water-Shield.”  
“Lunar-Crushing”  
  
The lunar resonator frowned. “I was attacked by a solar.” She glared at the ground as they walked along. “They specifically picked enemies to counter us then.”  
  
“Wait, if you were attacked by yourself, how did you win?” Lina asked. The group came to a stop in front of the parking garage.   
  
The resonator shrugged. “Simple. I told them to go away.” Blakki didn’t quite appreciate the skeptical looks she was getting from Lina and Effy. “Seriously? Come on.” Effy scoffed.  
  
The lunar-fox closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them next, her eyes glowed a soft blue. Lina’s tuner flew from her side into Blakki’s hand. Almost as if she was practiced at this point, she clicked the red button on the lower right portion of the device and spoke into it.  
  
“Effy, sit down.”  
  
Completely outside of his control, the resonator lowered himself to the ground and sat on the sidewalk. Blakki just stared for a moment before allowing the device to simply fall out of her hand. It unceremoniously clattered against the sidewalk. When this happened, Effy scrambled for the device, taking possession of it. He glared up at the resonator, who returned his glare.   
  
“I am taking this seriously; are you?” She said coldly. With that declaration she walked into the parking garage. Leaving the remaining quartet shocked.  
  
“I-is she normally like that?” Lina asked hesitantly, pointing in the direction of the departing resonator.  
  
Colette shook her head. “No…”  
  
Effy hopped to his feet. “She has a point.” He spat to the side. “She doesn’t have to be a bitch about it though.”  
  
\---  
  
Cold, determined blue eyes glared at the road ahead as the street lights flashed above. “Take a left.” The driver of the vehicle took a hard left, as instructed. Colette stole a glance over at the lunar resonator in the passenger seat. Her gaze completely focused on the road in front of them.  
  
The other three passengers tucked into the back of the car all remained quiet. Lina flipped through her spell list on her tuner, but other than that bit of light the back was entirely dark.   
  
“Right.”  
  
Colette snapped to and took the direction. The buildings they were passing began to slowly degrade, as the space between them began to compress. Until finally they hit an open patch of land. Ahead of them was a checkpoint surrounded by miles of chainlink fence. There were several large buildings one could make out in the distance.  
  
“Get ready.” Blakki advised, the blue glow in her eyes intensifying. Colette went to move her foot to the brake but found it stuck on the accelerator. Looking down she saw a slight purple glow surrounding her foot. A pressure forced the driver’s foot further down on the pedal, bringing the car rapidly towards its top speed.  
  
“W-WAIT! BLAKKI!”  
  
Lina and Effy realized what was happening and braced themselves.  
  
“Effy if we die-”  
“We’re not gonna die-” The solar resonator gulped seeing the checkpoint rapidly approaching. “-But this is gonna hurt.”  
  
BWHAM!  
  
The car crashed through the barrier and onto what seemed to be a military base. At this point in time Colette was just a mere brick to hold her foot on the gas. Blakki grabbed the handbrake and in an impressive show of telekinetic talent, drifted the car around the corner, using Colette as the controls.  
  
“How the fuck-!?” Rebecca cried out from the back, another well timed drift throwing the fire resonator into the side of the car.  
  
The vehicle zoomed through the military installation, startling many soldiers and their resonators as it sailed through the compound. Finally, one more drift to spin the car around to face where they had come from.  
  
“HOW?!” Rebecca barked, sitting up from being tossed around in the back.  
  
“I watched Sho’s sister do that stuff a bunch. Andiamo, they’re gonna be on us soon.” Blakki kicked open the door and rushed out of the car.  
  
“Déjà vu… I've just been in this place before…” Colette moaned, head still spinning from being used as a meat puppet.  
  
“Snap out of it! We got company!” Lina barked, kicking her own door open and letting her resonator out.  
  
\---  
  
Blakki ran through the building she stopped the car at. Her mind was totally focused on her goal, her eyes looking for any tuners that appeared in her sight. Each one was grabbed from its owner and a quick shout of “Cadere!” would down the resonator long enough for the girl to pass.  
  
The tips of her hair began to turn white however, as she wasn’t an endless supply of rhythm. The fox girl skidded to a halt. She looked down two adjoining hallways. “Sho… dove sei?” She asked, taking just a second to catch her breath.  
  
Two pairs of maestro/resonators appeared down one of the hallways. Blakki snatched their tuners up just as easily as the rest. She pressed down the two red control buttons on the devices and barked into them: “Voi due lottano tra loro!”  
  
Instantly the two soldier’s resonators turned on each other and began to fight. As with the other devices she had acquired during her small stint through the base, she tossed them away, furthering the confusion. She rushed down the hallway and up a flight of stairs. There stood another soldier and his resonator.   
  
Blakki tried the same trick as with all the others, however the device hovered in the air for a moment before returning to its proper owner.  
  
“Nice try.” The maestro spoke, keeping a firm grip on his tuner now. “My resonator is the same as you.” The soldier looked over the exhausted fox-girl. “Though it seems he may be better trained than you.” With the opposing resonator’s hand held out, a tuner flew from Blakki’s jacket pocket towards the maestro. Blakki made a grab for it with her mind, however this was a feint.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
  
Just as Blakki had grabbed her tuner back with her mind, a thick beam of lunar energy slammed her into the ground. The tuner clattered to the ground some distance away. The soldier walked over to the device and picked it up from the ground, just as Blakki had rose to her feet again.  
  
“Non toccarlo con quelle mani sudice.” The lunar resonator wheezed while maintaining a bitter glare. Her hair and tail now completely white. Even her vibrant blue eyes were dulled.  
  
The soldier shook his head, he pressed the control button down. “That’s enough, stop fighting.”  
  
Blakki’s eyes went wide and her arms dropped to her sides, her head slowly falling forward, white bangs covering her eyes. The soldier relaxed a bit, satisfied the fighting was done for now. He walked over to the “fallen” fox-girl. Before he knew what was happening, the girl was already throwing a punch. The man who was at least two heads taller than the small girl he had seemingly defeated was knocked off of his feet and slammed into the ground.  
  
The opposing resonator stood in shock as he watched the black come half way through the girl’s hair. Her eyes and fists glowing with blazing blue energy. She grabbed the tuner at the soldier’s waist, pressing down the red button.  
  
“Di-” Before she could finish that word, she stopped herself. “-own!”  
  
The opposing lunar resonator crumbled into a heap on the ground. Sweat dripped from the girl’s brow as she stared at her opponent’s tuner. For a moment, she was angry enough to end this battle fatally. Frankly that kind of hatred scared the girl. She shook her head, throwing her opponent’s tuner away and extracting her own tuner from her adversary’s grasp.  
  
With a tired sigh, she looked up at the remaining hallway before her. It was still quite a distance away. Begrudgingly, she pressed on, hoping this nightmare would be over sooner rather than later.


	48. Chapter 48

I’m sorry.   
I didn’t mean what I said.  
I didn’t mean to make you feel that way.  
I’m just a failure.  
I deserve this.  
  
Shouri sat at the back of a prison cell, sitting on the ground. He hugged his knees close to his chest, eyes staring blankly at the ground. His normal jacket was missing. Despite the missing garment, the cold air didn’t seem to bother him. In fact, the ambient noise, the musky odor, and the movements of the guards were just totally ignored by the boy. He had even become numb to the device that had been forced around his neck.  
  
He remained like this for what felt like an eternity, totally dead to the world. Not even his guards rushing about outside would stir him from his trance-like state. Eventually he would be left all alone. Thankfully for his captors, the boy still refused to move.  
  
“Sho!”  
He could hear her shouting for him. What did he even do that earned her affection? He wasn’t special. Just some kid who got in way over his head.   
“Ehi Sho!”  
It was so real, but almost like a dream. He wanted to carve her memory into his heart, so he could live in that dream world, its own reality.   
“Mi presti attenzione cavolo!”  
  
The boy slowly raised his head, barely processing the sound that was reverberating off of him. There was the shape of a person blocking the light that shone into the cell. He couldn’t make out the features at first. His vision began to adjust as he pulled himself out of his stupor. A girl with half white and black hair gripped the bars just outside of his cage. Upon locking eyes, her expression brightened.   
  
“Sho!” She shouted.   
“B-blakki?” He asked, the light slowly returning to his eyes.   
  
“Si!” She grinned toothily. “Buongiorno Sho!” The girl’s tail wagged happily. She looked around trying to find a way to get into the cell. Locating the door, she fiddled with the knob for a moment. Getting frustrated with the lock, she broke it using her telekinetic powers. With that obstacle out of the way, the vixen rushed in and tackled her maestro to the ground, holding him tightly.   
  
“I’m sorry Sho! I shouldn’t have stormed out like that.”  
“No Blakki, I’m sorry. You were absolutely right.”  
  
The two laid in their embrace for a moment before separating. Blakki’s eyes met with the collar around her maestro’s neck. It was like the one Marrion had used on him previously. With a sigh and a smile, she reached around his neck and began to undo the complex mechanism that bound the device to him. “What am I gonna do with you?” Blakki whispered.   
  
Shouri just stared blankly at the coy, almost seductive smile on the girl’s face.   
  
click!  
  
Slowly the resonator pulled the collar away from his neck before she tossed it behind her, the device clattering on the ground in the distance. The pair remained in their respective positions for a moment, just staring into each other's eyes. Shouri's lips slowly turned up to a smile before he closed his eyes. He ran his hand up his partner’s back until it rested in between her shoulder blades. “Ah!” The girl’s eyes opened wide in surprise. The maestro gently pushed her away, her previously white hair having been returned to its healthy, silky black.   
  
“Sho…” She smiled warmly.   
“You broke in, I’m gonna need you to break out.” He said.   
  
Rising to their feet, Blakki reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out their tuner. She held it out for her maestro. He stared at the device for a moment before cupping his hand over Blakki’s. He then grabbed the bottom of her hand with his free hand and held her hand tightly. The duo got lost in each other's eyes once more, before a loud crash outside jolted them out of their stupor.  
  
“Diamoci una mossa!”  
“Agreed.”  
  
\---  
  
“Luce del Sole, Forte!”  
“Lanciafiamme, Forte!”  
  
The two canine resonators launched their basic attacks of their respective elements into a crowd of advancing Resonators. They had been backed up to the door Blakki had ran in. The troops were careful in attempting to move their resonators in as the two female maestros were giving it their all.  
  
“Colette, it’s been an honor fighting alongside you.” Lina chuckled, looking over at her counterpart.  
  
Despite the dire situation they were in, Colette couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Don’t get sentimental on me now.”  
  
The other girl’s expression darkened as she looked down at her tuner. She nodded before turning back to her ally. “I have a last-ditch plan.” Lina flashed her tuner to the other maestro. The red-haired girl looked over at the screen. Her face immediately paled at what she read.  
  
“What the fuck no!? Don’t do that?” The girl cried out in a panic.  
  
Lina bit her bottom lip. “But it wouldn’t hurt you guys.” She stole a second glance at her spell list.  
  
“It would hurt you! A lot!” Colette grabbed the other girl’s shoulders and shook her. “Absolutely not. I am NOT dealing with Shouri being an inconsolable wreck!”  
  
“We could use some rhythm here!” Effy barked.  
  
“Luce del Sole, Forte!”  
“Lanciafiamme, Forte!”  
  
Colette returned her attention to her reckless counterpart. “No.” She repeated.   
  
Lina gritted her teeth. “Once I say it, you won’t be able to stop it.”  
  
“PLEASE do NOT cast that spell. For the love of all that is holy.” Colette pleaded with the other girl.  
  
“Ladies, PLEASE CUT THE CHATTER!” Effy barked back, physically kicking away a feisty resonator that got too close for comfort.   
  
“Luce del Sole, Forte!”  
“Lanciafiamme, Forte!”  
  
“Hey, what are they doing?” Rebecca pointed at a small cluster of resonators that all aimed at them.  
  
“Ready? Aim-“  
  
The group of four fugitives collectively paled.  
  
“Fire!” Various spells in a variety of ranks were called out, and after it, a cluster of elements began their pilgrimage to the group they were to assail.  
  
Effy and Rebecca turned, jumping onto their respective maestros to shield them from the assault. As they awaited the pummeling they were about to take, a new voice cut through the chaos.  
  
“Riflettore Musicale, Pianissimo Staccato!”  
  
What should have been the end of the break in, was only met with the enemy suddenly retreating. Looking up from their positions on the ground, they saw a black tail with a white tip swishing back and forth. The owner of the tail looked back, her eyes glowing a deep blue. She smiled at the group.  
  
“Siamo arrivati in tempo. Are you all okay?” Blakki asked.  
  
Colette stood up and turned around, Shouri stood in the doorway, staring at his tuner. Rather than elation at his safe return, the girl instead got mad. “CRESCENDO!? REALLY!?” She barked at him.  
  
Shouri looked up. “We got shield spells now. I thought you only get one attribute?”  
  
The red-haired maestro made several angry gestures at the boy before finally explaining. “Healers and Shielders can unlock lower level spells of the other attribute after they’ve mastered all of their own and after a LONG TIME.” She growled. “You fucking cheat I swear!” She barked.  
  
“This is nice and all, but how about we get the fuck out of here while the getting is good?!” Effy barked at the group.  
  
Shouri nodded in agreement. “Let’s get to the car then."  
  
“Uhh Shouri?” Colette pointed at the car in question. The windows were all blown out, the driver’s side door had been caved in, and the tires were all flat. In addition to all this, there was a large number of holes in the remaining surfaces along with plenty of scorch marks splattered along the once shiny paintjob of the rental vehicle.  
  
“We sorta used it for cover initially.” Lina laughed nervously.   
“Hope you had insurance on that.” Effy threw in.  
  
“It was a rental.” Shouri looked around, they were at the back of the compound. Nearby was a chainlink fence and a thick forest that seemed to go on forever. “That does pose a problem in how we’re getting out of here.” He decided.  
  
“You’re not.” The group turned to face a man with spiky red hair. Next to him was his resonator. A woman with long red hair, red dragon wings with a long tail to compliment it.  
  
The group edged back a little. Blakki took her spot in front of the group. Their opponent sized them up for a moment. “I’m gonna give you one last chance to surrender. I can promise you a painless execution that way!” The man shouted.  
  
The six young adults paled at that declaration.  
  
Shouri glared down their opponent for a moment before deciding on his spell: “Passo Silenzioso, Moderato Staccato.” Blakki gulped, standing on the tips of her toes.   
  
The man shook his head. “Liza, they’re gonna fight.” He told his resonator. “Fucking duh Lyle, you told them you’d kill them either way.” She muttered.  
  
Lyle shrugged, shaking his head. “Whatever.” He smirked, looking over the group. “They look worth the big guns.” The man licked his lips, pulling his tuner from his side. The dragon-girl nodded and got into position. The two sides of combatants stood at ready for a what felt like ages.  
  
“Scintilla di civiltà, Ultrissimo!"  
  
Colette paled and her eyes went wide at that attack declaration. “GET DOWN!”  
  
Blakki, being in front dodged using her skill. The other five of her party dropped to the ground. A savage beam of fire roared overhead, blasting straight through a streetlamp in the way and straight through the chainlink fence into the forest. Liza shook her hands out, remaining in her combat stance.   
  
“CALDE! CALDE!” Blakki yelped, yanking her jacket off and throwing it to the ground. The jacket burned up, leaving a pile of ash.  
  
“Wh-what the fuck?!” Shouri barked out, scrambling to his feet. Looking back, the steel pole and metal fence were actually burning, while the forest was totally unharmed.   
  
“Scintilla di civiltà is the Fire ultimate attack. It burns anything made by civilization, including people” Colette explained, physically trembling.   
  
Shouri sighed. “That’s so fucking stupid.” He wearily looked up at their opponent, who smugly looked down on them. “Sotto!” He declared after a moment of thought.   
  
“Sh-sho?” Blakki blinked.   
  
The maestro pointed at their opponent. “Look at him, his hair hasn’t turned white at all. The dude didn’t even look like that took anything from him. He’s probably able to cast that a bunch.” He explained his initial observations. “Also-” He pointed at the opposing resonator. “-She just aimed in our general direction. She wasn’t trying to hit us.” Liza nodded slowly in agreement with what Shouri said. “If we actually start fighting, then they’ll probably just melt us.”  
  
The group remained silent for a moment.   
  
Lina clapped twice. “Alright. I guess it’s our turn then.” She stepped in front of the group. Effy sighed and shook his head. “I knew when I met you that you’d end up getting us killed.” He groaned. The solar resonator laughed and stood in front of his maestro, folding his arms across his chest.  
  
“Whatever, I’ve had my fun.” He smirked confidently at his opponents.   
  
Lyle’s smile faded. “Keep your guard up. They’re plotting something.” He told his resonator. “Obviously.” She replied, but heeded the advice.  
  
“STOP IT! DON’T DO IT!” Colette shouted in desperation realizing what Lina intended.  
“What?!” Shouri looked over at his childhood friend.  
  
She remained where she was standing. From his position, he could see a confident smirk on her face.  
  
“Shouri!” She called out.  
He gulped. “Yeah Lina?  
“It’s been my dream to use my rhythm to save someone. And now, the time’s come to make that wish come true! I leave the rest to you!”  
“Lina!”  
  
“Scintilla di civiltà, Ultrissimo!”  
“La fine di una stella, Ultrissimo!”  
  
Liza thrust her open palms out once more, firing a beam of blazing fire energy at her opponent, who responded with an outward explosion of solar and wind energy that would meet the attack. The two energies clashed as neither resonator refused to relent their attack.   
  
Blakki and Rebecca grabbed their respective maestros as the hurricane-force winds from the clashing of the two ultimate level attacks whipped around the facility.   
  
A white-haired Lina looked down at her legs, which were currently evaporating. She gritted her teeth still seeing fire coming from the dome of their own attack.   
  
“Effy! Don’t stop!”  
“As if I have a choice in the matter!”   
  
Meanwhile, outside of the attack itself, the dome of light was only growing.   
  
“Colette! What the hell is that?!” Shouri barked.   
“La fine di una stella uses everything! The rhythm, the body, the very essence of the maestro, it’s a true final attack!” Colette shouted back.   
  
Shouri and Blakki’s eyes both went wide. They both turned to the approaching light.   
  
“LIINNNAAAAAAAAAAA!”


	49. Chapter 49

The light never truly faded. Or at least that’s how it felt staring through the sunlight poking through the canopy of trees just overhead. Shouri placed the back of his hand on his forehead in a small attempt to block out some of the light in question.  
  
As he regained his awareness, he noted it was oddly quiet. Not deathly quiet mind you, there seemed to be a babbling brook nearby and the songs of birds in the trees. It was warm out, but the closest source of warmth was the fox girl clinging to his side.  
  
“Blakki…”  
“Altri cinque minuti Sho…”  
  
While she muttered this, she clung to him tighter. He couldn’t help but smile. At least she was consistent. He reached over and gently stroked her hair, eliciting a smile from the still sleeping girl. Before he could pull his hand away to try and assess the situation further, she grabbed his hand and held it tightly.  
  
“Blakki, I know you’re awake.”  
“Altri cinque minuti Sho!” She repeated louder.  
  
Shouri rolled his eyes and began counting in his head. When he hit the magic number three hundred, he sat up to dissuade any further protest from his partner. “Buongiorno Sho…” She muttered, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Looking around however, provided no answers to their situation. It was just a picturesque forest of trees.  
  
“What do you remember?”  
“Mi ricordo è un po' annebbiato… I remember we were fighting, and then light.”  
  
The boy’s gaze fell. It all came back. “Lina…” He muttered. Blakki grabbed his arm, he looked over at her, she stared back with concern. “Tutto si sistemerà Sho.” Her lips slowly turned to a smile. “I’m still here with you.” She paused for a moment, thinking about her words. “If you need a shoulder to cry on, I have two of them.”  
  
The maestro quickly looked away from his resonator. “Why are you like this?” He asked. The girl giggled in response. “You always ask me that, but I don’t really have a good answer for you.”  
  
“I just love you is all.” She grinned toothily. Shouri stole a glance at her genuine expression for a moment before looking away again. “I might take you up on that shoulder when we’re somewhere safe.” He decided, pushing himself up. He held out his hand for his partner who eagerly grabbed it and pulled herself to her feet.  
  
“Where are we?” She asked, looking around.  
  
“Dunno. I think this might be a forest just outside of the base.” Shouri noted, recalling the battle they had the night prior and the flames that harmlessly flew through the forest. Blakki nodded in agreement. “Solar magic also has wind spells, so I guess that spell blew us away?”  
  
The boy grunted, taking a 360-degree view of their surroundings. Just trees, nature, and wildlife as far as he could tell. No real landmarks to speak of. Blakki decided on utilizing a different sense. She closed her eyes and allowed her ears to stand up straight. Shouri immediately noted this and ceased making any further noise to allow his partner to concentrate. The vixen hummed to herself, turning slightly with each twitch of her fluffy ears. Finally, she pointed in a direction. “Someone is that way. It’s faint, but I can hear them.”  
  
Shouri nodded. “Hopefully someone friendly.” He reached to his side, and brushed his hand across his tuner. “Remind me to thank Rose for making these things with sturdy belt clips.” He told his resonator. “Noted.” She replied with a short laugh.  
  
\---  
  
They slowly advanced through the woods, Blakki keeping a careful watch of their surroundings with her superior hearing. Their forward march began to slow to a crawl as they got closer to the source of the voices.  
  
“Who is it?”  
“Hard to tell from this distance. They seem to be getting quieter as we’ve gotten closer.”  
“Anything else?”  
“They’re shuffling around, but also slowed down like we have.”  
“Are you tracking our echo?”  
  
Blakki narrowed her eyes, glaring at her maestro. “No saputo; I think they’ve got someone like me.” She replied quietly. Shouri drew his tuner from his side and with the faintest of breath, whispered a command:  
  
“Riflettore Musicale, Pianissimo Staccato.”  
  
Blakki nodded. “’ndom” She pointed forward into the clearing and crept out. Shouri followed, right behind her. It seemed that their target had the same idea, as there was a shout as soon as the two parties caught sight of each other.  
  
“Lanciafiamme, Piano!”  
  
Reflexively, Blakki threw up a shield and bounced the fire spell back at its caster. “Bischero! Why would you immediately attack?!” The lunar resonator barked stomping her feet in frustration.  
  
“Sorry we’re literally on a military hitlist now!” Colette shouted back. Shouri sighed in relief at seeing their allies safe and sound. Rebecca dusted off her clothes, having had to block her own spell from hitting Colette.  
  
“Not used to you calling people fools though.” Rebecca noted.  
  
Blakki shook her head. “Scusa, that was kind of stressful though.” She admitted.  
  
“So what’s our situation look like?” Shouri asked.  
  
Colette’s gaze fell. “We lost Lina, presumably Efigenios too.” The group remained silent for a moment. “On top of attacking a military base. We’re definitely more wanted than we were before.” She stated calmly. “They now have a public reason to come after us rather than attacking us from the shadows.”  
  
Shouri rolled his eyes. “Peachy.”Looking around didn’t reveal any more useful info than his own initial starting point. “The only thing we can do is keep fighting. Maybe if we’re lucky they’ll try to hire us or something.” He suggested as a possibility.  
  
“Indentured servitude or death? Some research trip this turned out to be.” Colette sighed. She chuckled a bit.  
  
“Hm?” Shouri raised an eyebrow and looked over.  
  
“Before we left to come find you Lina said something about being excited about being targeted like this. Something like knowing things that other people don’t is romantic.” Colette recalled. “I kinda understand what she meant in a way.”  
  
The male of the group grunted, digesting that information. “Yeah, that sounds like her alright.” He commented. He looked over to the pair of vixens in their company. “Rebecca, Blakki, can either of you hear anything that might point us towards civilization?”  
  
The pair of foxes looked at each other, then both nodded and closed their eyes. They each turned in different directions but eventually oriented themselves facing due west. “Did you hear that?” Blakki asked her counterpart.  
  
“Sounds like cars?”  
“Si!”  
  
The two girls pointed west. “Probably a road that way.”  
  
Shouri looked to Colette, who nodded in agreement as well. “That way.” She said.   
  
The group of four began their trek towards the road in question. “Hrm… that’s weird.” Colette commented as they walked. “Huh, what’s up?” Shouri looked over at his fellow maestro. The red-haired girl was fiddling with her tuner.  
  
“Can’t get any service.”  
“We are in the middle of a forest.”  
“Rebecca and I have been in more remote places than this and I had service just fine.”  
“Maybe cause we’re so close to a military base they’ve got it blocked off.”  
“Hmmm, something just doesn’t feel right.”  
  
Colette returned her tuner to her side and kept walking, still bothered by the sudden communications blackout. Shouri checked his own tuner. It was similarly unable to access any kind of website. He figured that a device that could channel and transmit spiritual energy would have fairly robust telecommunications. Then again, he hadn’t known about the device’s phone like capabilities until they met Rose.  
  
Shouri would be pulled out of his own thoughts by the sounds of cars rapidly crossing the pavement in the distance. “Let’s approach slowly.” He told the group. The trio of girls nodded in agreement.  
  
“Aspetta un attimo.” Blakki stopped and bent down. She picked up a handful of small rocks and pocketed them. “Just in case.” She said to her maestro.  
  
Rebecca looked down to her feet, which had her fire damaged shoes barely holding up. Colette and Shouri also exchanged a glance, noting sparks of yellow around their counterpart’s hands. Prepared to fight at a moment’s notice, the group continued their trek. The collective heartrate of the group rose higher and higher, until they reached the road in question.  
  
The road was lower than where they were standing, almost as if it was cut out of the earth. Both sides of the highway were neatly tucked between a pair of walls. Looking a bit north, there was a bridge with a sign indicating an exit coming up. Colette and Rebecca looked at each other, furrowing their brows in confusion.  
  
“Where did we end up?” Colette questioned.  
  
“Hm?” Shouri looked to the confused red-heads.  
  
“I’ve driven A LOT. I’ve never seen any highway signs that are green like that.” Rebecca commented.  
  
“There’s something written on it, maybe you can tell us where we are.” Blakki suggested.  
  
Colette nodded in agreement. “Good idea.”  
  
The group walked in relative silence. Nervously observing the cars that sped by without a care in the world. The text slowly became easier to read as they made their approach.  
  
There were two signs affixed to the overpass ahead.  
  
Holland Tunnel  
New York City  
Left 1 Mile  
  
Newark  
All Exits  
Right 1 Mile  
  
The group came to a stop. “New York City?” Rebecca spoke, now even more confused than before. “I’ve never heard of a “New York City” before.” Colette added.  
  
It was then that the two girls heard a chuckle. “No, of course you haven’t.” Shouri said, his chuckling became a full on maddened laughter. “Of course! That's why you said you left the rest to me!” The boy shouted to the sky. The two red-haired girls looked at their traveling companion in bewilderment.  
  
He turned to them, taking a deep breath to compose himself before speaking.  
  
“This is my world; the one Blakki and I came from.”  
  
“We’re… home?” Blakki stared at her maestro, dumbfounded. Their two worlds were so similar it was difficult to tell them apart.  
  
Shouri nodded. “If I hadn’t lost my cell-phone I could charge it up and prove it to you.” He told them. “I know that your New Draxgow was in the same spot as this world’s New York.” The boy added.  
  
Colette brought a hand up to her head, slowly running it through her hair, eyes wide. “I’m…” She lowered herself to the ground and sat in the fallen leaves and dirt. Rebecca watched her maestro as she panicked and muttered all kinds of things to herself, most notably: “All I wanted to do was finish my thesis paper.”   
  
“At least things get easier for now.”  
  
Colette looked up, her bewildered, lost expression instantly fading into a harsh glare. “EASIER?! FOR YOU! I JUST GOT ZAPPED ACROSS THE FUCKING UNIVERSE!” The girl barked from her position on the ground.  
  
“Yeah?! Think about how we felt!” Shouri barked back.  
  
Colette got to her feet. “We were taken against our will!”  
“And so were we Princess!”  
“I don’t know how anything works here!”  
“Oh please keep going, the choir is listening!”  
“Everything I knew is a world away and I have no idea how to get back!”  
“Do go on! Keep telling me how hard it is that you ended up in another world against your will with no friends and family to rely on!”  
  
It was at that moment Colette realized what she was doing. Her expression lightened. “I’m sorry.” She finally admitted. “I’m just panicking.”  
  
Shouri sighed, folding his arms across his chest and looking over at the uncaring traffic that zoomed by their little spectacle. “You’re scared, and lost.” He spoke softly. “And that’s okay.”  
  
The quartet fell to silence.  
  
“I owe your grandfather for helping us.” Shouri spoke up suddenly. “So I get to pay back that kindness at least.”  
  
“Thank you…” Colette muttered, hanging her head in shame over yelling at Shouri previously.  
  
With that settled, Shouri cleared the air with a deep inhale and exhale. “We need to get to a phone.” He decided. “Why’s that Sho?” Blakki asked her maestro.  
  
“Gonna call Grandpa Marsuru.” The boy smirked.  
  
\---  
  
The start of their journey in a new world wouldn’t be easy. It began with walking. As Colette and Rebecca would find out, Libertera was very similar to the “United States of America” in a lot of respects. The one they were experiencing right now was the distances between major cities.  
  
It was hot and muggy. Blakki felt a bit exposed without her jacket to hide behind, but in the same respect was glad that the warming garment wasn’t present to keep her any warmer than she already was.  
  
Four young adults walking down the side of a busy highway wouldn’t go unnoticed for long. A car pulled off to the side, stopping the groups forward advance. With a set of lights on the top and marked as "POLICE" even the two girls from another world knew they had attracted the wrong attention. The quartet tensed up as they waited for the stopped cruiser and it's occupant to make a move. A woman in a blue uniform stepped out of the vehicle, she adjusted the cap on her head before walking up.  
  
“Good morning folks!” She called out.  
  
“Let me handle this.” Shouri quickly muttered to the three girls. “Morning officer!” He addressed the police officer approaching them.  
  
“Taking a bit of a stroll down the highway?” She asked, looking over the group. The two fox-eared girls stood out immediately.  
  
“Yeah, we got a bit lost. We were out in the woods taking some pictures for Comic con, but I guess we got turned around. I lost my phone in the river and well here we are.” He explained.  
  
The officer nodded. “Yeah, my nephew is into that stuff.” She looked around. “Where were you folks heading?”  
  
“Er, well we’re not from around here. We took an uber just to get to this park. Heard the parks around here were real nice.” Shouri made up on the spot. He felt the slightest pull from his rhythm, and quietly dismissed it, hoping nothing sparked or changed about him.   
  
The officer frowned. “Ah yeah, the Watchung reservation is beautiful this time of year. Too bad you lost your phone, I would have loved to see the pictures you took.”   
  
“It happens. I’m just glad someone stopped for us.” Shouri laughed nervously. “Could I trouble you to borrow your phone? I told my grandpa I’d check in with him, but that was a few hours ago.”  
  
“Oh sure, definitely. I’ll give you folks a lift back to the Cataract Road parking lot, it’s a bit down the way, but close to the reserve.” The officer pulled her own phone out of her pocket and handed it to Shouri. “Thanks officer, I really appreciate it.”  
  
“No problem. I’ll be right back!” And with that the group of four was left to their own devices for the moment.  
  
“How the fuck did you do that?” Colette hissed at the boy.  
  
“You’d be able to do the same thing in your world, chill.” Shouri muttered, dialing his grandfather’s number.  
  
“Grandpa Marsuru! It’s Shouri!”  
“Mhm, I figured she would be”  
“Well she is my sister, she knows me best I suppose.”  
“Who?”  
“Oh, you mean Blakki? She’s here.”  
“Yeah, that’s Blakki.”  
“Grandpa Marsuru, I don’t mean to interrupt, but I’m kind of borrowing a police officers phone.”  
“Well it’s not that, I’ll tell you the whole story later, but we got a bit lost. We’re in New Jersey right now.”  
“I’m sure she’d appreciate that. Is there any way-”  
“Uhh, the officer said she was going to drop us off near Cataract Road near the Watchung reservation.”  
  
Shouri placed his hand over the bottom of the phone and pulled it away from his head. “He’s yelling something to my Grandmother, good sign.” The boy commented to the trio left out of the conversation. Before they could ask what was going on, he was already back to talking to the enigmatic grandfather.  
  
“Yes Grandpa, I’m still here.”  
“That’s great!”  
“Wait what?”  
“I-I guess not.”  
“Ah, well I appreciate you helping us out. Gotta go.”  
“See you soon, bye.”  
  
It was at this point that the police officer had returned. “All good?” She asked. Shouri nodded, holding out the phone for the officer. “My grandfather’s friend is going to pick us up.”  
  
“Well let me take you over to that lot, can’t have a bunch of kids wandering down the highway.” The officer told the group.  
  
“That was the plan.” Shouri nodded in agreement.  
  
Since Shouri did all of the talking, he was rewarded with being able to sit in the comfy front seat. The girls had to sit in the hard, uncomfortable seats in the back. “Never thought I’d be in one of these.” Colette muttered.  
  
“I did after we started this thing with them.” Rebecca snarked back.  
  
“At least there’s a bit of space for our tails.” Blakki commented.  
“Wait, is that not a thing here normally?” Rebecca turned to her fellow vixen.  
“No, Resonators aren’t a thing here. No need to build seats with tails in mind.”  
“Uhhhg, this place suuucks.”  
  
Other than Rebecca finding new things to complain about, the trip to the parking lot in question went smoothly. The police cruiser pulled into an empty parking space and the four passengers got out. “I’ll be here if you folks need me.” The officer waved to the group.  
  
Despite getting help from this particular officer, the group was a bit wary of authorities in general, so they put a bit of distance between themselves and the officer who idled in the parking lot. After about twenty or thirty minutes, a new car pulled into the lot. It was a newer model, well maintained; a rental.  
  
After the mystery vehicle pulled around for a bit, it finally stopped next to Shouri and company. The driver side window rolled down to reveal a man in his mid-forties, wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses. “Shouri! It’s been a minute!”  
  
“Miles, glad to see you’re still doing well.” Shouri replied.  
  
The man lowered his glasses for a moment, looking at the three girls who were staring from behind him. He raised an eyebrow at the two girls sporting fox-ears and tails. “This isn’t your usual group.” He decided on.  
  
“Like you said, it’s been a minute. Shit happens.” Shouri commented.  
  
The man shrugged. “Get in. Old man Tomoshibi was pretty insistent we get there before dinner.”   
  
Shouri turned to the group of girls behind him. “Well, you heard him, let’s get in the car.” Blakki and Rebecca shrugged, getting in on the driver’s side. Colette and Shouri walked around, but when they were behind the car, the red-haired maestro stopped her brown-haired counterpart.  
  
“Who is this guy?” She asked hesitantly.  
  
“Family pilot.” Shouri replied nonchalantly.  
  
The girl stood there for a moment, blinking twice. “Repeat that.”  
  
“Family pilot.”  
“You have… a pilot?”  
“Yeah, my grandfather is a real-estate tycoon. The man’s got more money than he knows what to do with.”  
“How is this something that only just now came up?”  
  
The boy pondered that for a moment. He offered a shrug and explained his thoughts. “Well, I mean, our money was useless in your world, and I don’t talk to gramps all that often. He just kinda shows up when he wants. Also, he’s not gonna be around forever, and his money sure as hell isn’t gonna be around forever, so why should I rely on something so dubious?”  
  
Colette opened her mouth to counter that point, but didn’t have a response, so she simply closed her mouth.  
  
“Good, let’s get in the car.” Shouri walked to the passenger side and hopped in next to Miles. Colette stood outside of the car for a moment reflecting what Shouri had said before deciding to join the rest of the group in the vehicle.  
  
With the final passenger safely buckled in the car took off. “So how the hell did you kids end up all the way out in Jersey? I thought you were going to school in Cali?” Miles asked as they sped down the interstate.  
  
“Eh you know, just start wandering and before you know it, you’re taking tours of military bases in New England.” Shouri joked.  
  
The trio of girls in the back just glared at Shouri. “Can we stop for some food? In our travels we forgot to eat.” Shouri added in. Miles pondered that thought for a moment. “Like I actually don’t remember the last time any of us ate.”  
  
Miles glanced over at the boy sitting in the passenger seat. “Seriously kid, what the hell were you doing?”  
  
“Following the will of the Inari.” Shouri put his hands together as if to start a prayer.  
  
“Alright, alright, I get it. You’re just like yer grandpops.” Miles turned off one of the exits and pulled into the first fast food joint that they found. “Decide quick.” The driver told the group.  
  
The three girls practically piled on each other as they tried to get a glimpse of the drive-thru menu.  
  
“Number 1 I guess.”  
“Number 3 sounds good.”  
“I’m fine with that 7 combo.”  
  
Miles looked to Shouri.  
  
“Eh, give me a number 2.”  
  
The orders were placed, and within mere minutes, they were on the road again, the four hungry travelers finally able to eat something after possibly days without food.  
  
“I should have got a bigger combo.” Rebecca muttered, now sad at the absence of food.  
Blakki patted the other vixen’s back reassuringly. “Rilassati Rebecca, I’m sure there will be food where ever we’re going” The lunar resonator frowned after saying that. “Where are we going Sho?”  
  
“Resort in the mountains.” He replied without missing a beat.  
  
Silence.  
  
“Scusa? Che cosa hai detto?” Blakki blurted out. Miles raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Resort in the mountains.” Shouri repeated, unhelpfully.  
  
Blakki shook her head. “No no, I mean, what?”  
  
“Grandpa Marsuru is loaded. He owns a resort in the mountains. Actually, I think it’s his only personal property in the US. He’s usually in Canada for the summer, now that I think about it.” Shouri commented.  
  
“No, he actually bought a place down in Florida last summer.” Miles chimed in.  
“What? That hell hole?”  
“Mary was pissed when she found out.”  
“Oh Grandpa Marsuru.”  
  
Once more the gaggle of girls in the back seat was totally left out of the conversation as Miles and Shouri went back and forth about people and places they knew. The fifteen-minute trip was relatively boring after they got their food. Walls and trees were the main visuals they were granted. Their journey would come to a brief stop at a small airport.  
  
“Here we are.”  
  
The four passengers departed the vehicle. They had been at a couple of airports before, however this one was about the size of the one in Loggiavento, but with much smaller planes traveling about.  
  
“This way kids!” Miles called out, walking towards one of the buildings. The group rushed to their chauffeur, to not lose him. They could do nothing but watch quietly as he spoke with some of the workers, and then the desk attendants, and finally what appeared to be other pilots.  
  
Shouri noticed the strange looks they were all getting from the desk attendant. He didn’t have the energy to make a comment. “Come on!” Miles snapped the boy from his thoughts with a shout. Passing through another door, the quartet followed their new pilot onto yet another tarmac. However, unlike their previous trip, the planes here were on a much smaller scale.  
  
They approached a plane that sat on its own on the tarmac. Miles approached the vehicle and opened one of the panels on the side of the machine. A part of the metal panel popped open and the man gently let a small portion of the side come down, revealing a set of stairs that would allow them to climb into the belly of the metal beast.   
  
“After you.” Miles motioned towards the plane.  
  
The group wearily ascended into their next transport. However, they stopped upon getting inside. It was much different from the cargo plane they had gotten in previously. For starters there was a huge flat panel television on one side. On the other there were two very plush looking reclining chairs. Nearby was a fridge with an extra locking mechanism on it and a counter space with similarly secured cabinets. At the back of this “room” was a sliding panel with another similar room.  
  
“Woah…” The quartet all gasped at the luxury before them.  
  
“Go on and take your seats. We’re gonna be in the air for about seven hours.” Miles told the awe-struck group.   
  
“This isn’t your usual dinky plane.” Shouri commented.  
  
“I was taking some foreign prime minister to the UN building in NYC. Mary caught me on the way back here. Gotta take this bird home, so it works out.” The man explained. “Seriously though, get seated, yer gramps will give me an ear-full if you kids miss dinner.”  
  
Shouri nodded slowly and turned to his group. “You heard him, let’s get seated.”


	50. Chapter 50

Seven hours passed in the blink of an eye, all thanks to the distractions of modern technology. The plane landed at another private airport, this time much closer to Shouri and Blakki’s home.   
  
Miles exited the cockpit and opened the door to the cabin. “Alright team, let’s get moving to the helipad.” He told the group, who stared back at him blankly  
  
At this point, the group was exhausted from their whirlwind of adventures and travel that had occurred over the past three days. They just followed the energetic pilot like a small horde of zombies. Sure enough a helicopter was waiting for them, the propellers already idling slowly.   
  
“Sho… cosa è quella cosa?” Blakki asked wearily, pointing at the purring machine  
  
“Helicopter. A different flying machine.”  
“Ho capito…”  
  
Piling into the second flying contraption in question, the four young adults buckled themselves in. Miles passed some noise cancelling headsets to the group and began to buckle himself in. At this point however, Shouri sobered up to a massive problem, his gaze slowly shifting over to the pair of vixens sitting across from him.  
  
“Why?” Rebecca asked, holding the headset clearly not designed for her ears.   
  
“You’re probably gonna want to just use your hands.” Shouri told the two fox girls. Rebecca and Blakki looked at each other in confusion. They then realized the problem as soon as the blades began rotating faster. They were loud. And while a normal human could sit in a functioning helicopter without the headset, for the two girls with sensitive hearing…  
  
“Oh dear god.” Rebecca clamped her hands firmly on her head, flattening her ears to try and avoid the noise. Blakki quickly followed suit.   
  
Shouri and Colette put on their own headsets. Flicking the mic down from its raised position, the brown haired maestro asked the relevant question: “Hey Miles, how far away are we?”   
  
“Like five minutes or so once we get in the air.” Was the reply they'd get. Thankfully, Rebecca and Blakki were out of his sight, so he wouldn’t question their pained expressions nor question why they weren’t just using the headsets.  
  
The smaller metal beast was significantly louder than its larger cousin. However, the occupants would spend a fraction of the time in this vehicle. After take-off they watched the landscape rapidly change, clearing a small coastal city before heading into the mountains.   
  
The craft circled one particular mountain two or three times before beginning its descent. The group felt the vehicle rock a bit as it touched back down onto terra firma. The blades began to slow and with it the noise.   
  
“Never again.” Rebecca grumbled, freeing her ears and wiping the accumulated tears from her face.   
  
“Didn’t really think about it until he started passing out the headsets.” Shouri replied, removing his own headset. Before Rebecca could comment on that the side door opened.   
  
“We’re here.” Miles told the group.   
  
They had seen they were going into the mountains during the trip, but actually stepping out was an entirely different experience.   
  
The afternoon sun greeted the group as they took in their new surroundings. The helicopter had landed on a rather large driveway. Three of the four cardinal directions were thick trees, the fourth was a stone walkway leading up to a house they could just barely make out from more trees.   
  
“Shouri?!” A voice called from the direction of the house.   
  
An older couple descended the stone staircase to greet the group. “Grandpa Marsuru! Grandma Mary!” Shouri rushed over to meet his grandparents.   
  
“Shouri, glad to see you not in a coma!” Marsuru immediately started. His wife would elbow him.   
  
“That’s NOT how you greet your grandson!”  
“What? I can’t state FACTS now?”  
“I’m sure it was very traumatizing for him!”  
“Look at him! He’s healthier than ever!”  
  
Colette and Rebecca watched the older couple’s surprisingly spirited argument. After a moment of back and forth, they finally calmed down and continued on talking as if that dispute never even happened.   
  
“I see you brought some friends with you Shouri-dear.” Mary noted. Shouri looked back and saw that his friends in question were still standing awkwardly near the helicopter they had departed from. The boy frowned, and waved them over.   
  
Blakki spoke up first. “Good afternoon, it’s nice to see you again.” She greeted the pair, mindful of which language she was using this time.  
  
“The pleasure’s ours.” Marsuru said with a nod. “We have much to discuss. In absence of his father, I’ll have to see if I can give him to you.” The man chuckled.  
  
“Ch-che??”   
  
Mary stomped her husband’s foot, annoyed by his antics once more. “How about you two?” She looked to two unfamiliar faces.   
  
“I’m Colette, and this is Rebecca.” Rebecca’s expression soured, shooting a glare at her maestro from behind.  
  
“A bit out of your element, are you?” Marsuru noted.   
  
“Huh?” Colette was now confused.   
  
“I hope nothing has happened to sour your opinion of this land. It has its fair share of problems, but there are good people here. I’m sure you have the same sorts of problems where you’re from.” The elderly man spoke. Colette just stared blankly, unsure of what the elder was getting at.   
  
“Don’t mind him, he lives in his own little world.” Mary chuckled. “Come on in, you kids look absolutely exhausted.” The woman beckoned the group to follow her, leaving Marsuru to deal with Miles.   
  
“Your Grandfather just started shouting across the house this morning. “Mary! Get the bedrooms ready! Shouri is staying with us for a little bit!” Naturally the man doesn’t tell me what’s going on and I have to pry him for more information. He didn’t even tell me you all ended up in Jersey.” The woman told the group. They were barely listening however, as when they cleared the stairs, they saw the sheer scope of the home they would be staying in.   
  
It was a long two-story tall European style country home. The landscaping around the home was gorgeous. Well-kept stone matched with meticulously kept greenery. They could spot a balcony on the second floor and a covered terrace to their immediate right.   
  
The woman let the weary travelers into her home. They had been brought into the main entranceway which lead to a large open living room. Looking up at the ceiling revealed several skylights in the roof allowing the natural light to illuminate the room. There was an ornate chandelier handing in the center of the room. It was split between dining and living, as there was a couch and flat panel television taking up half of the room, while the other half had a long eight-person dining room table.   
  
“This way kids; I’m sure you all want to relax before dinner.” Mary led the group past the kitchen and to a stairwell. Rather than taking the stairs up, she led them downstairs. To their left and right were open doors are each leading to a different bedroom. Directly in front of them was a bathroom.   
  
“We have some spare robes you all can use while your clothes wash.” Mary told the group. Looking the weary travelers over, she nodded. “The washer and dryer are pretty quick.” The woman chuckled. “We have another guest bathroom, but its in the family room on the upper floor. So decide amongst yourselves.”  
  
“We’ll wash the clothes if we get this bathroom?” Shouri looked to Blakki who nodded in agreement. The maestro turned to his counterpart.   
  
“Sounds good to me.” Colette nodded in agreement. Rebecca made a quiet grunt and folded her arms across her chest. While Colette missed this, Mary chuckled to herself.   
  
“I see.” The older woman mused aloud.   
  
Shouri looked to his grandmother. “Eh?”  
  
“Nothing dear. Let me grab those robes for you all.” The woman left through the bathroom. She returned a moment later holding a large bundle of cloth. “Here you all go.” She looked to Rebecca and Colette. “If you two want to change, I can show you to the other bathroom.”  
  
Colette nodded, smiling. “Sure, thank you.”   
  
Mary took the other two girls back upstairs, leaving Shouri and Blakki alone. The vixen looked down at the robes in her hands. They were a soft velvety texture that felt nice to the touch. She wanted to rub her face in it, but also didn’t want to get it dirty.  
  
Her maestro’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. “Let’s take this bedroom, it’s the bigger one.” Blakki nodded and followed her maestro into the bedroom. Two closets flanked a small desk on either side. A queen-sized bed sat proudly against the back wall and there was even an outside facing door to allow the occupants to slip out of the home without having to traverse the rest of the building.   
  
Blakki walked up to the bed and pressed down on it. She smiled warmly; it was as plush as it looked. Setting her robe down she pressed her weight down with both hands, watching the mattress slowly spring back up from the force. Her ears stood up straight in surprise from a sudden pressure on her shoulders. “Close the door.” She heard Shouri mutter. The fact that he didn’t release her shoulders told the resonator exactly what she needed to know. Closing her eyes, she closed the door with her telekinesis. “Lock it.” A click secured the door from any uninvited guests.  
  
She stood in place, her maestro’s hands firmly resting on her shoulder-blades.  
  
“Blakki?”  
“Y-yeah Sho?”  
“…Is that shoulder still available?”  
“…yeah.”  
  
The vixen slowly turned around, her heart nearly breaking as she saw her precious maestro. Tears slowly spilled over his eyes; several involuntary whimpers escaped his lips as he tried to resist completely breaking down. It was painful to watch, but she dare not look away, even as she felt her own eyes slowly fill to the brim.  
  
The girl slowly opened her arms, inviting her partner into her embrace. He grabbed hold of her tightly, the force of which sent the two onto the bed. She returned the hug, holding him as tightly as possible as his body was wracked with the gut-wrenching sobs.  
  
The pair laid in a disheveled heap as their grief poured out in a flood of uncontrollable tears. The storm of emotions slowed and finally came to a stop not five minutes later.  
  
“I’m sorry Blakki, I’m sorry…” The boy sniffled, still in his partner’s grasp. “Don’t apologize for having emotions…” She stroked his hair softly.  
  
“I love you Blakki.”  
  
The girl laid there for a moment, eyes wide. “C-che..? Dirlo di nuovo… per favore?”  
  
“I love you Blakki. I’m sorry for taking so long to answer you.”  
“I-I love you too Sho… sarò per sempre tua…”


	51. Chapter 51

Blakki stood in the glass enclosed shower, a thick mist enveloping her as the piping hot water splashed against her form. Occasionally she would break down into a small giggle fit. It felt almost like a dream to her. She then came upon a realization: she’d want to be as clean as possible for Shouri. So using all the hot water while daydreaming probably wouldn’t be a good idea.  
  
She reached for the shampoo as she was accustomed to but noticed something strange. The bottle didn’t have a specific brand, and in fact was a blank bottle with “Shampoo blend 4” written on the bottle. Pointing the showerhead away from her, Blakki took a small amount of the shampoo in her free hand and applied it to her head. A distinctly lemon scent filled the shower. Additionally, she noticed the small amount of shampoo went much further than she was used to. Bringing her tail in front of her, she began to apply shampoo to the thick fur that coated her tail.  
  
It didn’t take much of the viscous liquid to clean her tail, which was something odd. While she waited for the shampoo to soak in, she looked over the bottle again. No kind of instructions or anything. Just a blank bottle with the hand written labeling.  
  
Pivoting the shower head back towards her, she washed the soap from her hair and tail. With her large abundance of hair taken care of she looked to the bar of soap. It was hand-wrapped, and upon opening it, she noticed it had an almost sand-like texture to compliment the normally smooth texture. It didn’t hurt to use the soap as she had previously feared. After rinsing off, she noted her skin felt much smoother to the touch.  
  
Turning off the shower, she exited the shower and dried off. She sat on the toilet, brushing her tail. “Che?” She blinked, confused about the texture of her own tail. Running her hands through the fluffy fur, it was so soft and smooth, almost velvety, with a sheen she hadn’t seen before.  
  
Donning her new robes, she swiftly exited the bathroom. “Sho!” She called to her maestro, who appeared from the bedroom they had claimed. “Feel my tail!” She demanded, holding her tail out for her maestro. He stared for a moment before his eyes laid on the part in her robes where she was holding out her tail from. The boy quickly averted his gaze.  
  
“Y-you should keep yourself covered.” He muttered.  
“O-oh!” Blakki quickly closed her robes again, her face reddening slightly.  
  
They stood in awkward silence for a moment. “I don’t mind if it’s you.” She muttered.  
  
“Alright, going to take that shower now!” Shouri announced loudly, walking by his resonator. As he did so, he muttered a quick “save it for later” which caused Blakki’s face to become entirely red.  
  
\---  
  
Blakki and Shouri patiently watched the dryer tumble their clothes in silence. “Ah, this is where you two were.” Colette spoke as she entered the room. Notably, Rebecca was missing.  
  
“Yeah, feel kinda naked like this.” Blakki fretted, adjusting her robe.  
  
Colette nodded. “I feel that.” The maestro replied. “How much longer?” She asked, directing her attention to Shouri.  
  
“’bout three or four minutes, roughly.” He replied, keeping his eyes glued on the machinery in question.  
  
They all stood in silence for a couple of moments. “So, where’s Rebecca?” Shouri asked.  
  
“Shower.” Said Colette.  
“I see.” Said Shouri.  
  
The buzz of the dryer completing its cycle drew the group’s attention. Wordlessly, the group retrieved their respective clothes. After retrieving her and Rebecca’s clothes, she walked to the door. “Which room is ours?” She asked.  
  
“The one to the right of the stairs.”  
“Okay. Thank you.”  
  
With that, Shouri and Blakki were left alone with their dried, clean clothing.  
  
“Did something-”  
“-feel odd to you?”  
  
The duo looked at each other, Blakki having finished Shouri’s thought. The pair simply nodded, acknowledging their shared concern. “Okay, glad it wasn’t just me.” Shouri commented. He looked at their pile of clothes, pondering Colette and Rebecca’s behavior. “I did bring up Rebecca’s attitude to Colette.” Shouri decided.  
  
Blakki’s ears stood up in curiosity. “Oh?” She tilted her head slightly. “What’d she say?”  
  
“She noticed Rebecca starting to get distant, but she’s totally oblivious as to why” Shouri told his resonator.  
  
“You didn’t tell her how Rebecca felt?”  
“No, I felt like it’d be rude to interfere like that.”  
  
The vixen fidgeted uneasily. “But they’re not talking about it!” She exclaimed. “They’re each making assumptions and it’s driving them apart!”  
  
“But what right do we have to butt in? I mean, we’ve already done enough haven’t we?” Shouri argued back.  
  
The two glared at each other for a moment. Blakki’s expression lightened, her ears folding back. “I guess.” She sighed, her tail wrapping around her leg. “I just want Rebecca to be happy.” Shouri stared at his partner for a moment before deciding to rest a hand on her head. “Eh?” She looked up. He patted her head a few times with his hand.  
  
“There there.” He said quietly, glancing away.  
  
The girl chuckled. “You could put a bit more emotion into that.” She shook her head.  
  
\---  
  
Now in clean clothes, the pair of Shouri and Blakki made their way upstairs. Upon crossing the threshold between floors, they noted the smell of fresh cooking food from the kitchen wafting down the stairwell. Rushing up to the middle floor, they saw Mary Tomoshibi cooking away.  
  
Blakki sniffed the air a couple of times and smiled warmly. “It smells so good; avere l'acquolina in bocca…” The fox-girl slowly drifted towards the kitchen. Shouri chuckled and followed his partner. “You kids hungry?” Mary asked the pair as they approached the counter.  
  
“Si!” The vixen exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air.  
  
Mary couldn’t help but laugh. “Sorry to disappoint, but it’ll be another half an hour at least.” She turned back to the pot in front of her. “Your grandfather wanted to see you though. I think he’s out at the spring.”  
  
Shouri and Blakki looked to each other. The maestro offered a shrug to his partner and motioned for her to follow. “Eh? Shoes?” Blakki asked, noting they were walking outside in their bare feet. “It’ll be fine, it’s all cobblestone and it’s not too hot out.” Shouri waved off his resonator’s concern.  
  
Hopping off the porch they made their way down a cobblestone path. Stone walls flanked either side of the walkway, with a canopy of trees providing shade overhead. “It’s beautiful…” Blakki gasped, taking in the sights as they walked.  
  
“My grandparents used to do the yardwork when I was younger; but I think they just hire some people now.” Shouri commented as they walked along. Eventually they came across a staircase leading up a hill. Ascending the steps, they came across a small pool. Marsuru was at the edge of the pool, sifting some fallen leaves out with a large, flat net. He noted the pair’s approach. “Ah, all clean?” The elder asked.  
  
“Mhm. Cleaning the spring?” Shouri asked.  
  
“Figured you kids might want to play in it a bit later.” Marsuru said as he put the net up on its holder. Blakki stared at the crystal-clear pool of water before her. By all counts it looked like an average pool to her. There were even a couple of pool chairs flanking either side of the small body of water. The only thing that stood out was the deck surrounding the pool was cobblestone just like the path leading up. It was kept remarkably clean however; not a trace of any kind of algae build up like one would expect.  
  
“Come here.” Shouri waved his partner over to the edge of the pool. She watched him roll up his pant legs. She did the same, assuming that he wanted her to follow his lead. Sitting on the edge of the pool, Shouri put his legs into the water. Blakki frowned for a moment, but followed her partner’s example.  
  
“Oh!” She gasped, her ears standing up straight in surprise. “It’s warm?” She asked.  
  
Shouri nodded slowly, leaning back to relax. “Natural hot spring. No filtration or anything. Comes out this clean all on its own.”  
  
“Wow, that’s amazing!” Blakki exclaimed, moving her feet through the water.  
  
“Maybe we can soak in here tomorrow. Probably will hit the hay pretty early tonight.” Shouri yawned. He glanced over to his grandfather, who was just watching with a warm smile from one of the chairs. “You wanted to know what happened?” Shouri asked.  
  
The elder man chuckled. “My stories have been on some re-runs lately. Could use some new entertainment.”  
  
Shouri laughed loudly as well. “I hope we’re better than daytime television.” The boy stared at the sky. “It started a few months ago when Aura decided to yell at me about my room…”  
  
The pair recounted their first meeting and their adventures together, all the way up to the events of the present day. Not once did Marsuru question a word they were saying. He simply nodded and would occasionally add an “oh…” or an “I see.”  
  
When the pair of storytellers finished their tale, the elderly man clapped. “That was quite a tale kids!” He looked the pair over. “You definitely look more traveled than the last time I saw you.” He added, standing up. He turned and walked over to the railing surrounding the hot spring. Around an hour had passed and, in that time, afternoon had become evening. “Let’s get back to the house. I’m sure your grandmother is wondering what the heck we’ve been up to.” The man laughed loudly before walking towards the stairs.  
  
When Marsuru was out of earshot, Blakki spoke up. “D-did he believe us?” She asked, not sure what to make of her maestro’s relative.  
  
“Yeah. If he didn’t, he would have challenged what we said.” Shouri pulled his feet out of the water and got to his feet. He held out his hand for Blakki. She stared at it for a moment before smiling and accepting her partner’s hand.  
  
They walked back down the path to the house, hand in hand. However, their peaceful evening would come to an end.  
  
“What did I do?!”  
“You’re just impossible!”  
“That doesn’t tell me anything!”  
“Knowledge my ass! You’re just a dumb idiot!”  
“Why won’t you just tell me what’s wrong?!”  
“Because you’re an idiot!”  
  
Shouri and Blakki recognized the voices, and looked to each other worriedly. They ran down the path just in time to see Rebecca hopping away with fire at her heels. Colette stood with her tuner in her hand, ring finger resting on the red button. Blakki instinctively ripped the tuner out of Colette’s hand with her telekinesis and took possession of it.  
  
“Hey-!”  
  
Her glare faded as she was met with two glares back. “Don’t make the same mistake I did.” Shouri warned. He motioned for Blakki to return Colette’s tuner. The lunar resonator stared at the device in her hand uneasily for a moment before she tossed it back. However, Marsuru seemed to appear out of nowhere and intercepted the device mid-flight. “Hmmm…” The trio all stared at the older man who looked over the device. “I see, I see…” He pocketed the device, much to everyone’s surprise.  
  
“Hey-!” Colette stopped when the man motioned for silence. “I’ll go talk to her. If my grandson’s story is to be believed, I owe your family a great deal of debt for taking care of him.” The man smiled. Colette looked down; eyes wrought with worry. “L-let me at least go with you.” She pleaded.  
  
Her heartfelt plea met a knowing smile. “That won’t be necessary. Shouri’s grandmother made a wonderful stew for dinner. You kids should go eat. I’ll be back with Rebecca shortly.” The way the man spoke put Colette at ease, only slightly. “O-okay… I’ll trust you.” She finally relented, dropping her shoulders and turning towards the house. “I don’t know what’s wrong…”  
  
\---  
  
Rebecca meanwhile sat on a tree branch, lost in her thoughts. Thoughts that would be interrupted by a voice.  
  
“Rebecca!”  
  
The vixen slowly looked to the source of the voice. Marsuru Tomoshibi stood at the base of the tree she was in, looking up.  
  
“How did you find me so quickly?” She asked.  
  
The older man simply flashed the tuner to the fire resonator. “This thing is good at finding what you’ve lost.” He said simply.  
  
Rebecca stood up on her branch and jumped up higher into the tree. Before she could sit down on her higher branch, she heard the interloper’s voice in her head.  
  
“Between what is said and not meant, and what is meant and not said, most of love is lost.”  
  
The fire resonator grimaced in annoyance. “I thought old people were supposed to be bad at technology.”  
  
“I understand.”  
  
Rebecca sat up; brows raised in confusion. “E-excuse me?”  
  
“Just because a system says you have to conform, doesn’t mean it is absolute. You shouldn’t mask who you are to conform to the desires of others.”  
  
The next moment Rebecca jumped from the tree, igniting her feet at the last moment to slow her descent. She glared at the old man. “What are you trying to say to me?” She asked. The man held out the tuner for the girl it was attached to. She stared at the device for a moment before reaching her hand out for it. She trembled in hesitation before taking hold of the device. She had never touched it before. It was always taboo for a resonator to even touch their own tuner, yet here she was holding her own. The figurative chain that bound her to Colette.  
  
“You’re a free woman, what will you do?”  
  
Her ears twitched at those words; her gaze still focused on her tuner. With a sigh, she tightened her grip around the device. “I’ll talk to her.” She muttered.  
  
With a small, knowing nod, Marsuru turned and began to walk back in the direction of his home. Rebecca stood in thought for a moment before deciding to follow the elder.


	52. Chapter 52

Blakki and Shouri remained quiet as Marsuru returned with Rebecca. The vixen in question had her head lowered, in her hand was the tuner that was bound to her.  
  
“R-rebecca.” Colette gulped, not sure what to say to her resonator.  
  
The fire resonator kept her gaze down. “Can we go somewhere to talk?” She spoke up quietly. “Alone.” She added, shooting an almost tired glance at Shouri and Blakki.  
  
“S-sure.” Colette stood up from the dining room table they were all sitting at. “Excuse me.”  
  
The duo wordlessly watched Colette and Rebecca depart. Their own plates had been cleaned already, so there was nothing keeping them at the dinner table. Shouri grabbed Blakki’s cleaned plate, stacked it with his own and Colette’s and took them away. The resonator sat alone in the dining room for a moment before deciding to follow her maestro. They met just as Shouri was turning to come back.  
  
“What do you want to do Sho?” Blakki asked after a brief silence.  
The boy yawned. “I think we should go lay down.”  
“Suona bene.”  
  
Before Shouri could get away, Blakki grabbed his hand. Their eyes met for a moment; she smiled and giggled, he shook his head but returned the smile. The pair made their way towards the stairwell, however before they reached the stairs in question Shouri’s grandmother emerged from the stairwell.  
  
She gently brought an index finger to her lips. “Shhhhh….” She pointed downstairs.  
  
Getting the hint, the pair slowly and carefully made their way down the staircase themselves and crept into their own bedroom, trying to avoid listening to the loud conversation across the hall from them. With a gentle click, the door was closed and locked behind the pair. They looked around the dimly illuminated room, then back to eachother.  
  
“I need to get grandpa to put a TV in here.” Shouri muttered.  
“Just a bit.” Blakki added with a chuckle  
  
Shouri stretched out and yawned. “Let’s get to sleep.” Blakki nodded in agreement, also stretching out. They each flanked a side of the bed and laid down. The duo laid on their sides and stared at each other. After some awkward silence, Shouri spoke up.  
  
“Uhh… what’s protocol here?”  
“Che?”  
  
The boy adverted his gaze, seemingly nervous. “I uh… well hrm…” Blakki giggled slightly to herself. Seeing Shouri flustered was definitely a rarity for her.  
  
“I don’t know why you have to question it Sho, we’ve already been sleeping together for like a month now.” The resonator pointed out.  
  
His eyes narrowed, still not looking his partner in the eyes. “Sh-shut up…” He muttered, smiling slightly.  
  
\---  
  
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
“mmuh…?” Blakki opened her eyes groggily. It was pitch-dark outside, even more than she was used to even at night due to the lack of light pollution. Her head rested on Shouri’s chest; glancing up, she noticed he was also awake. The pair remained quiet, staying in their horizontal position on the bed.  
  
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
Now a bit more awake, the duo realized this wasn’t a dream, and there was actually someone at the door. Blakki sat up, looking at her maestro. “I swear to god, if grandpa Marsuru found another rattlesnake I’m gonna blast him with rhythm.” Shouri grumbled, sliding out of bed. The lunar resonator sat for a moment, again wondering just what kind of childhood her maestro had.  
  
Shouri opened the door right as their disturber went for another knock. “Ah, Shouri!” Colette pulled her hand away.  
  
“Do you have any idea what time it is?” He asked, leaning against the door frame.  
  
“I know, but Rebecca started freaking out, and I don’t know what’s going on.” Colette said. “Please, come talk to her.” She pleaded.  
  
Blakki at this point, had joined the pair at the door. Shouri hummed in thought. “I wonder…” He mused to himself. “Alright.”  
  
The trio crossed the small common room and entered the room Colette and Rebecca were cohabitating. The fire resonator in question was curled up into a ball on the bed, tail puffed out, ears sticking straight up in high alert.  
  
The male maestro flicked on the light switch, momentarily blinding all of them. “What’s going on?” He asked, after a moment.  
  
“I-I dunno… I just started feeling this crushing fear. I don’t know what’s going on. It’s like, drawing me towards it.” Rebecca explained.  
  
Blakki and Shouri’s expression dropped into one of perplexation, and they slowly turned to each other.  
  
“Do you feel anything?”  
“Not a thing”  
“Weird.”  
“Remember, after a certain point I stopped feeling certain ones.”  
“Yeah, Sonia and Vinci would find ones we didn’t even know were around.”  
  
Colette and Rebecca watched the back and forth between the other pair. Finally having enough of the crypticism, the fear-afflicted resonator spoke up. “What are you two going on about?”  
  
“It’s a scherzando.” The duo in question spoke in perfect unison.  
  
The red-haired maestro was immediately skeptical of that claim. “What? I’ve never seen any resonator behave like this before.” She pointed out.  
  
“That’s your world then. Every resonator in this world behaves like that when a scherzando around their level is nearby.” Shouri explained.  
  
The other-worldly maestro frowned, folding her arms across her chest. “That’s weird. Why would it work like that?”  
  
“Sahji probably did it so we actually do our jobs.” Shouri shrugged, turning for the door.  
  
“Jobs?” Colette raised an eyebrow.  
  
The boy turned his head back. “Yeah, someone’s gotta get rid of them.” One could practically see the gears turning in Colette’s head as she processed that.  
  
“Oh! Like the raids in our world.” Colette nodded, understanding what Shouri was getting at. Rebecca hopped out of bed, and joined the small group at the door. “I guess I could use a workout.” The fire elemental spoke with a grin. Colette turned to her resonator and stared at her incredulously  
  
“Rebecca you climbed a tree today.”  
“And?”  
“Using your skill.”  
“It was one tree.”  
“You’re going to hurt yourself again.”  
“I’ll be fine, you worry too much.”  
  
Shouri and Blakki exchanged a bemused look. They figured that Colette and Rebecca’s conversation must have went well earlier, but ultimately decided to just leave it at that.  
  
The quartet crept upstairs, walking on the very tips of their toes to avoid making any noise. Last thing they needed was to explain why they were all creeping out of the house at 2AM.  
  
Putting on their shoes, Shouri slowly opened the front door, only to be hit by a gust of cold wind. “Oh hell no.” Shouri closed the door.  
  
“What’s wrong?” Colette raised an eyebrow.  
“Felt fine to me.” Rebecca chimed in.  
“I’m used to wearing a jacket.” Shouri countered.  
“Me too.” Blakki nodded.  
  
“Oh yeah, what happened to those?” Rebecca asked.  
“Mine got burned up when that dragon girl used that fire ultimate on us.” Blakki replied.  
“They took mine along with my cell phone when I got kidnapped.” Shouri added in.”  
  
“At any rate, I think it might just be because of our elements.” Colette shrugged. “Since Rebecca is a fire resonator, I get a little heat and cold resistance from her. Just like you can probably see slightly better in the dark.”  
  
Shouri pondered that thought for a moment. “I never did think about that, but yeah you’re right.” He turned to Blakki. “Thanks for the free night vision.” He chuckled.  
  
“Hey, it’s not free, you have to pay to feed me.”  
“I _guess_ you’re right.”  
  
Rebecca trembled. “Hey, less flirt more ass kicking.” She growled, still feeling the unpleasant fear that permeated her body.  
  
“Right right. I think there are some old jackets downstairs. Wait here.” Shouri took Blakki with him back downstairs. They walked into the room Rebecca and Colette were staying in.  
  
“What are we doing here Sho?” Blakki tilted her head in confusion. As she watched her maestro go into the closet. He poked his head out. “Me and my friends used to visit here all the time, I’m pretty sure some of our clothes are still here.” He told her. “Come here.”  
  
Blakki poked her head into the closet in question. There was a small tote full of different clothes. Shouri pulled a green hoodie with white trimming out. “Hey. I haven’t seen this thing in a few years.” The boy slid it on taking a moment to make sure it still fit. He fiddled with the zipper, and after a moment of struggle, put the two halves together and zipped it back up.  
  
“There we go.” He smiled warmly at his old jacket. “I didn’t really use this thing much before I left it here. Still pretty much brand new.” He commented. Looking over at his resonator, he noted she was staring at him in awe. “Blakki?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
She shook her head. “Sorry. It just suits you so well.” She frowned, thinking about how she wanted to reword that. “It’s like… it’s just right for you to wear that.” Her frown deepened, not really sure how to express what she was feeling.  
  
“Anyways, come pick out a jacket, there’s plenty in here.” Shouri decided, to distract from Blakki’s increasing distress over her word choice.  
  
The girl nodded and walked into the closet. She dropped to her knees and began to shuffle through the practical mound of discarded clothes that laid within the box. One particular jacket drew her attention. Pulling it from its tomb, she held it out, looking over it. It was similar to her old jacket in a lot of ways. The collar design was ever so slightly different, and the zipper seemed a bit sturdier. Overall, this new one was in way better shape than her old jacket was, probably worn less too. The main difference between the two articles of clothing (besides one being a pile of ash in another dimension) was the blue bands around each arm, which Blakki immediately fell in love with.  
  
With no further hesitation, she rapidly donned the new article of clothing and looked it over.  
  
“Oh, that one.” Shouri noted with a somber tone.  
  
“This one?” The girl raised her eyebrows in concern.  
  
“Do you like it?” He asked. She looked down at the jacket. After a moment of thought she spoke: “It’s weird. I feel so out of place wearing anything but my usual clothes. But this jacket just feels… right somehow.”   
  
Shouri looked his resonator over. “You still look like you. I guess the splash of blue doesn’t hurt though.” Their eyes met for a moment. “It uhh…” The boy stared deeply into his partner’s eyes. “… compliments your eyes.” He shook his head while she adverted her gaze, blushing.  
  
“W-we should probably get back upstairs!” Blakki commented quickly, to distract from that awkward moment. The pair went to leave the room, but right when they reached the door Blakki stopped.  
  
“Oh; Sho?”  
“Yeah?”  
“What were you going to say about this jacket?”  
“…It’s nothing. I confused it for something else.”  
“I see.”  
  
\---  
  
Four young adults walked through the murky darkness. The light pollution of civilization a distant dream, the only visibility coming from the crescent moon and the stars. Blakki and Shouri led the group, as despite the near total absence of light, they still had some visibility.  
  
“This is stupid, I just want to use my spells.” Rebecca complained. Her hand was wrapped tightly around her maestro’s hand as she pulled her along.  
  
“At least you can hear them, I’m totally blind.” Colette fretted nervously.  
  
Rebecca’s ears twitched. “Speaking of; Blakki did you hear that?” She asked. Her lunar counterpart nodded. “Sounds like a battle!” She called back.  
  
“Battle? Let’s see what’s up.” Shouri advised. Blakki nodded and led the group towards the source of the noise in question.  
  
As the group approached the battlefield, they began to hear voices and the sounds of a skirmish. The first words the non-vulpine eared members of the group heard were: “Albero Robusto, Piano!”  
  
Coming out into a clearing dimly lit by the waning moon. In the distance, the quartet could make out the lights of several scherzando, and a lantern which was rapidly retreating. Blakki and Shouri could see the group of scherzando clearly.  
  
“Blakki-“  
“Rebecca-“  
  
“Go get ‘em!”  
  
The two vixens ran ahead, Rebecca jumping into the air and dashing through the air with ignited heels. Shouri and Colette took a light jog after their resonators, drawing out their tuners to call commands once they arrived.  
  
Blakki could see the resonator fall and the scherzando began to move in for the finishing blow. “Sho!” She called out.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte Staccatissimo!”  
  
Before Shouri had even finished calling out his spell his resonator was aiming a blob of lunar energy at a jumping scherzando. The pursuers stopped and turned towards the two vixen that were barreling down on them. Catching sight of Blakki and Rebecca, the group of scherzando began to flee.  
  
“Don’t let them escape!” Shouri barked.  
“Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto!” Colette shouted.  
A ring of fire lit up the field and trapped the enemy group. Blakki skidded to a stop in the wet grass and began throwing balls of lunar energy into the flames, quickly scattering the assailing scherzando into dust.  
  
“I… think we got them…” Colette came to a stop, holding herself up on her knees and panting hard.  
  
“Whew, been a hot minute since I’ve had to do that.” Shouri stretched back, wiping the sweat from his brow. He looked over to the pair that had been chased. It was an obvious maestro and resonator pair. Both boys, probably slightly younger than their own group. The two boys simply stared at the quartet that had come to their aide.  
  
“You alright?” Shouri decided to speak up on behalf of their group.  
  
The maestro of the pair shook his head, he looked to his resonator who was still sitting on the ground, visibly shaken up. “I think so; Liam?” The resonator in question was a boy with fluffy circular ears sitting atop his head. Brown hair with stripes of white and a long fluffy white tail.  
  
“I-I’m fine Julian…” The boy shook his head and got to his feet. “Th-thank you.”  
  
“What happened?” Shouri decided to ask.  
  
Julian, the maestro, looked at the pair of vixens Colette and Shouri kept in their company before speaking. “I’m assuming since you folks have resonators, you’re wrapped up in this too. Just some scherzando. But there were so many tough ones tonight. We’ve had some brushes with some strong ones, but these tonight were on a whole ‘nother level.”  
  
Liam nodded in agreement with his maestro. “We’ve fought some before that gave us trouble, but nothing like that.”  
  
Shouri nodded, humming to himself in thought. “I wonder…” The boy looked to his own group. The trio of girls just stared back, perplexed. He looked back to the younger maestro. “Where do you two live? We’ll guide you home.”  
  
Liam and Julian shared a glance, then nodded in agreement.  
  
“Great. Where do you live?”  
  
\---  
  
The group of now six walked down the dirt road that lead to Julian’s home. The maestro in question held up his lantern to help give the non-lunar users of the group some light. “Thanks for saving us by the way.” Julian spoke up.  
  
“It’s no problem. I’d rather not know what happens when a scherzando actually gets to eat.” Shouri grimaced.  
  
“It’s not pretty.” Colette chimed in. Shouri immediately whipped his head around and shot a rather nasty glare at Colette. “What?” She asked defensively. “Wrong place, wrong time, he grumbled.  
  
“Where did you people come from by the way?” Liam asked quietly.  
  
The four adults of the group came to a stop, looking at each other. “Up north.” Shouri decided on as their group began walking again.  
  
The polecat resonator nodded. “Have you fought anything like that before?” He asked.  
  
“You could say that.” Rebecca looked around, as if the surrounding foliage would give her a clue on how to answer. “We fought one that looked like a sphinx once!” Blakki chimed in.  
  
“Oh?” Liam brightened up. “How did you beat it?”  
  
The group came to a stop. “How DID you beat that Blakki?” Shouri asked. “That was the time I was kidnapped by Ryo. We never talked about the specifics of that time.”  
  
The lunar fox pondered that thought for a moment. “I think I used my class skill.” Rebecca grimaced. “You did what?” The fire fox growled at her lunar counterpart. Blakki turned to her and nodded. “I got so frustrated with being powerless in that situation I just kind of charged at it and then punched it.”  
  
“You… punched it?” Julian asked, impressed that the small girl could just punch away a large creature like a sphinx.  
  
Blakki nodded. “I mean it makes sense to me now, because I can do this-” She pulled Julian’s lantern out of his hand with her telekinesis and had the light source float around them with her mind. “-so I just did it without realizing it”  
  
“Wow that’s so cool!” Liam’s eyes lit up at Blakki’s use of her skill.  
  
Julian raised an eyebrow. “Wait, so it’s a spell that you don’t have to say?” He asked for clarification.  
  
Shouri shook his head. “No, it’s a skill a resonator can use with their own rhythm.” He replied.  
  
“Your resonator is an earth element right?” Colette asked the maestro. Rebecca elbowed her maestro. “Ah!” She quickly looked over at her own resonator. “You’re doing it again.” The fire fox muttered. “Ah! Sorry.” Colette wilted. “L-liam right?” Colette looked over at the resonator in question.  
  
The other four involved in the conversation stared at the fiery duo in bewilderment.  
  
Liam cleared his throat, deciding to get the conversation back on track. “Y-yes, I’m earth.”  
  
“Your class skill is Parte la Terra, from some of my earth resonator friends they describe it as “swimming through the ground”.” Rebecca told the other resonator.  
  
The newer pair looked to each other in excitement of the news.  
  
“That sounds so cool!” They both exclaimed. “When do we get that?” Julian asked.  
  
The four veterans all hummed in thought. Finally, Shouri spoke up. “Dunno. You just kinda get it randomly.” He offered. “Ah, but one of the core teachings of rhythm is “to use is to know.” So now that you know you can do that it should be a bit easier to unlock.” Colette chimed in.  
  
“Still difficult to do though. I’ve always known about mine and I still didn’t get it until like two weeks ago or something.” Rebecca added in to keep their expectations in check.  
  
Julian nodded. “That makes sense, I guess. We only got our first piano spell the other day.” He added, looking at his own tuner.  
  
“We have mostly Forte.” Colette turned her gaze to Shouri. “This cheater has all Fortissimo spells.” She grumbled.  
  
“Why is he a cheater?” Liam raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Probably cause we unlocked them all at one time.” Blakki chimed in.  
“To be totally fair, it was after Rose tested us.” Shouri pointed out.  
“I suppose.” Blakki shrugged.  
  
Shouri snapped his fingers suddenly. “Oh!” He looked to the Earth resonator and his maestro. “Where did you two get your tuner from?” He asked. He got a confused look back from the duo. “Uh, a woman named Lanvi?” Julian looked to Liam. “Yeah, that was her name. She ran a flower shop I think?” The resonator nodded in agreement.  
  
“Ahhh!” Colette scream broke the quiet night. “Lanvi the land sage?!” She shouted, with no respect to the wildlife around them.  
  
Julian and Liam continued to look perplexed by the questions and reactions of the older pairs. “I don’t think I remember her mentioning that, but her name is definitely Lanvi.” Liam said. “Here, I have it on my phone.” The teen reached into his pocket and retrieved his own cell phone. A few taps later, he showed the group a point on the map a bit isolated, but still off the main road.  
  
“Oh, don’t mind that it says the building is abandoned, it’s definitely an open business.” Julian clarified.  
  
The male maestro of the traveling quartet stared at the screen presented to them. “Everyone memorize those crossroads.” He decided suddenly.  
  
“Che? Why Sho?” Blakki tilted her head.  
  
“We’re gonna pay the land sage a visit.” The boy chuckled.


	53. Chapter 53

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK  
  
Shouri groggily opened his eyes, wincing a bit at the light filtering in through then window. Blakki was wrapped around him, going through a similar process.  
  
“Shouri-dear wake up, breakfast is getting cold!” His grandmother called out from the other side of their closed door. Blakki’s ears twitched as she listened to the grandparent cross the common space and wake up Colette and Rebecca as well. She then allowed her head to fall back onto Shouri’s chest. “Altri cinque minuti Sho…”  
  
“I gotta piss.” The boy said rather bluntly to his partner. This earned an annoyed grunt from the fox-girl who wanted to continue leeching warmth from her maestro. After a moment of annoyed shaking, the girl released her prisoner, allowing him to leave the confines of their bedroom.  
  
It seemed Colette had a similar thought, as the pair stopped in place, both having exited their respective bedrooms at the same time.  
  
“DIBS!”  
  
And then there was a loud crash and slam.  
  
Blakki emerged from the bedroom herself after the significant noise and cursing. “Asshole! Haven’t you heard “ladies first?!” Colette barked at the closed door.  
  
“I believe in equal rights for all!”  
“Terrible host!”  
“At least I’m not getting you shot at by the military!”  
“Yet!”  
  
The door opened after a flush. “I mean, I guess you’re not wrong.” Shouri chuckled. Colette did not look amused. She brushed him aside and slammed the bathroom door behind her. He looked to Rebecca, who was standing at the doorway of their bedroom.  
  
“Not a morning person?”  
“Not a morning person.”  
  
Shouri nodded. “Gotcha.” With that out of the way, the maestro made his way upstairs with his resonator close behind. Immediately the smell of various breakfast foods hit the young adults. Blakki rushed to the table, eyes sparkling at the practical buffet that laid before them. “Sembra tutto delizioso, nonna!” The girl exclaimed, tail wagging.  
  
The grandmother in question stepped into the dining room. “Take a seat and dig in. Your grandfather already had his breakfast.” Mary said.  
  
Blakki moved faster than she did in battle, basically vanishing and appearing in a chair and moving various foods to her plate. Shouri couldn’t help but chuckle, and took a seat himself. Colette and Rebecca soon made their entrance. “Jeeze, is this even necessary?” Rebecca asked, noting the sheer variety of food decorating the table.  
  
“You’re all still growing, you need a nice hearty breakfast to start the day right.” Mary insisted. The pair of off-worlders wouldn’t argue with free food and took their own seats.  
  
“So, what’s the plan for today?” Rebecca asked, buttering a slice of toast.  
  
Shouri waved his hand in the air as he finished chewing his food. “Gonna go into town and grab a cell phone. We can also find that flower shop Julian told us about last night.” He told the other pair.  
  
“Oh yeah, tuners don’t work here for that.” Colette frowned, stealing a glance to the device at her hip.  
  
The male maestro shrugged. “Maybe we can beat up Sahji and force him to upgrade ours. Until we get back to my place though, we gotta get in touch with some people.” He told the other pair.  
  
“That’s fair. From what you told us before you did kind of drop off the face of the planet, quite literally.” Colette giggled.  
  
“And now you know how that feels.” Shouri snarked back.  
“Don’t remind me.” The girl grumbled.  
  
After breakfast was all said and done, the group convened in the living room. “So how are we doing this?” Colette asked.  
  
“Well I was just gonna borrow one of my grandfather’s cars.”  
  
Colette and Rebecca stood in silence for a moment. “Cars? Plural?” The maestro asked for clarification.  
  
“I think he has like four here?” Shouri pondered aloud. “Also, we went over this. My grandfather is loaded. He wouldn’t mind handing a car over for a joyride through town.”  
  
“In fact I encourage it.”  
  
The quartet turned to see the owner of the cars in question standing there. “Which one do you want to drive?”  
  
A short pause. “Whatever the cheapest one is. I’d rather not stand out.” Shouri decided after a moment of thought. The old man nodded in agreement. “Especially with you driving, that’s probably for the best.” The maestro rolled his eyes. “Don’t remind me.” He grumbled.  
  
“Wait, you’re driving?” Rebecca asked.  
  
“Do you have a drivers license?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Think about where you are and I’ll ask again: Do you have a driver’s license?”  
  
Rebecca frowned, not getting what he was implying. “Oh….” Colette suddenly spoke up. “Rebecca, we don’t have usable drivers licenses anymore.” The girl wilted. “Don’t even have valid birth certificates either.” The maestro muttered. Rebecca gritted her teeth in frustration. She hadn’t considered the ramifications of suddenly being in another very similar, but different world. It was so much like home it was easy for her to forget that fact.  
  
Shouri spoke up suddenly. “We can probably bully Sahji into producing that stuff for you.” He shrugged.  
  
The red-haired maestro mulled that thought over for a moment, before looking to Shouri. “You guys really met him huh?”  
  
“Who?”  
“Sahji.”  
“Yeah, little gremlin will probably ask you to stab yourself with his dumb sword.”  
  
Colette nodded slowly. “It’s kind of unreal to be honest.” She admitted.  
Shouri raised an eyebrow. “How so?”  
  
“Well I mean, the sages are gods-” Colette was cut off by Shouri  
“Oh by the way, don’t refer to them as gods, Sahji really hates that.” He advised.  
“It’s good for getting him to launch into a lengthy explanation though.” Blakki chimed in.  
  
Rebecca and Colette merely watched in disbelief as the other pair laughed about their various run ins with the sage in question.  
  
\---  
  
It wasn’t too much longer before their car was waiting for them. Shouri sat in the driver’s seat, adjusting the mirrors and seat to his liking. Blakki sat strapped into the front seat, praying that her maestro wasn’t as wild of a driver as his sister. Lastly, Colette and Rebecca sat in the back seat, the resonator of the pair grumbling and complaining about the lack of tail space.  
  
Marsuru leaned on the outside of the car. “She’s a bit of an old bird, so be kind to her.” He tapped the roof twice and laughed heartily.  
  
“Well with any luck we’ll bring it back. Can’t say that about the last rental.” Shouri laughed back.  
  
“If it comes down to it, she’ll make good cover at least. Can’t say that about modern cars.” The man stepped away from the vehicle in question. One more adjustment of the rear-view mirror and Shouri’s eyes met with an irritated Colette.  
  
“What?” He asked.  
“I see where you get it from.” She replied.  
The boy chuckled. “Why whatever do you mean Colette Severine?”  
“Just drive.”  
  
And with that they were off. Blakki greatly appreciated her maestro’s calm, slower driving style. Rebecca was bored out of her mind and spent the majority of the trip backseat driving. Colette just quietly stared out of the window, watching the landscape change from a mountainous forest into a small coastal town.  
  
The group arrived at a small cell-phone store, probably one of two or three in the town. Colette and Rebecca noted once again how similar in respects the two worlds were, but also how different they were. “So this is a private business?” Rebecca asked.  
  
“Yep. How do they handle distributing tuners over there?” Shouri questioned. “I doubt you all have convenient tuner goblins to hand you them through a crystal ball.” He added with a chuckle.  
  
“Well, if the resonator doesn’t have a tuner assigned to them already, you usually have to go to an office.”  
“Government controlled?”  
“Yep.”  
  
Shouri grimaced. “No offense, but the more I learn about your world, the more I realize it isn’t all that bad here.” He commented.  
  
Colette frowned, reflecting on that. “Yeah… maybe.”  
  
“Anyways, let’s get inside.”  
  
The trio of foreigners looked around in awe at the devices proudly displayed for purchase. Many different styles and brands competed for their attention, along with accessories to further enhance the usage of the devices in question. While Shouri explained this all to Colette and Rebecca, Blakki wandered away from the group, wanting to just look at the fancy electronics. "Can I help you?" A store attendant asked, suddenly appearing behind the resonator.  
  
"Eep!" She quickly covered her mouth with her hands, her face turning red at her over-reaction. "N-no.. I'm just here with my friends." Blakki muttered quietly. She quickly returned to Shouri's side and clung to his arm.  
  
“So you get this plan thing and then end up paying it off over time?” Rebecca questioned. “Like credit?” Colette added in.  
  
“It more or less is a line of credit. Don’t want to deal with that though. I got this.” Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a credit card. Upon closer inspection it was a black card, one made of titanium. The cardholder was listed as “Tomoshibi Realty”  
  
“I-I’m assuming that card works like the ones in our world?” Colette asked in a hushed tone.  
“How so?” Shouri smirked.  
  
“That’s a titanium card right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Invite only”  
“Yeeep.”  
“God damn you’re loaded.”  
  
“Ehhhh?” The two resonators looked on in confusion at the exchange.  
  
“It's not mine. It's my grandparents.” He started, pocketing the needlessly elaborate card for the moment to prevent the attention it would draw.  
  
“To give you an idea, I can buy this entire store right now if I wanted to. And not just the phones, the building, the equipment, even that guys clothes, for the right price. I won't do that because I don't like being a rich asshole.” He explained as he motioned to the store around them. “But in this case at least I can use my grandparent’s wealth to buy me a new phone, just in case this Lanvi person can’t just turn on the data plan for Colette and I’s tuners.”  
  
“Seems reasonable enough.” Colette said uneasily, not accustomed to dealing with the bourgeoise.  
  
A couple of hours later, Shouri had his number transferred to his new phone and they sat in the parking lot. “First order of business.” He dialed a number and held his new electronics up to his ear.  
  
The two fox girls ears twitched as they were able to hear the ringing and then the answer of a voicemail.  
  
“You’ve reached the voice mail box of-  
“-Amika Mithuna-”  
“-at the tone please leave your message.”

The cut in of Amika’s voice was almost jarring to Shouri, as he visibly flinched at the sound of her voice. He spoke no words and hung up. “Wrong number.” He said quietly.  
  
Blakki lowered her gaze, not wanting to see her partner’s pained expression. He paused after dialing the next number in, staring at the digits displayed on the screen pensively. Finally, he hit the big green call button and moved the phone back up to his ear.  
  
The phone rang for twenty-five seconds, Blakki could see Shouri’s expression grow paler and paler as the line rang. Finally, the ringing stopped, the sounds of shuffling could be heard from the other end.  
  
“R-renoir’s Apparels hold please!”  
“Vinci!”  
  
There was a pause.  
  
“Shouri?"  
“Yeah.”  
  
Another pause.  
  
“Shouri? Shouri Tomoshibi?”  
“Yes, the very same.”  
  
A third pause.  
  
“SONIA!”  
  
The pair of vixens could hear the phone clattering on the other side. A minute later a new voice spoke. “Shouri?!”  
  
“Yeah.”  
“WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!”  
“Funny story-”  
“DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH SHIT AURA PUT ME THROUGH?!”  
“-true story in fact-”  
“I COULDN’T EVEN BEAR TO EXPLAIN IT TO AMIKA’S MOM!”  
“-so you see.”  
“WELL? WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!”  
  
Shouri paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath before speaking. “We went to another world.”  
  
Click  
  
The line was disconnected. Shouri pulled the phone away from his ear which was flashing the total time of the call before returning to the number pad. He re-dialed the number and called once more.  
  
“Hey, the line disconnected.”  
“No Shouri I HUNG UP ON YOU.”  
“Why?”  
“DID YOU HEAR YOURSELF?!"  
“I did. I brought back two people from the other world.”  
  
Silence. The two people in question looked at each other for a moment, then returned their gaze back to the front seat of the vehicle.  
  
“Uhg, fine fine. Where are you?”  
“Socal.”  
  
Silence.  
  
“How?”  
“We were in New Jersey yesterday.”  
“SHOURI TOMOSHIBI!”  
“It sounds like we should probably talk in person.”  
“Just a bit. When are you coming home?”  
“Few days give or take. Got some stuff to look into down here first.”  
“Alright. Keep in contact please. I don’t think I can handle another yelling session from Aura.”  
“Yup, talk to you later.”  
  
And with that, Shouri looked to his current companions. “Well that was fun.” He chuckled. “It sounded like it.” Blakki laughed nervously.  
  
\---  
  
“Here it is.”  
  
The car pulled up to a small flower shop that sat alone on the edge of town. Based on the proximity between the building and small town, one would expect an older building on its last legs. However, this business was running out of a seemingly brand-new construction, the tiny four car parking lot (if you could call it that) was freshly paved, the paint marking the individual spaces basically brand new.  
  
The quartet looked around from the safety of their vehicle. Seeing no other signs of life from their field of vision, a consensus was reached to exit the car, starting with Shouri. The slam of four individual car doors broke the silence of the quiet country road.  
  
“This looks sketchy as fuck.” Rebecca finally spoke up.  
“How so?” Blakki asked.  
“Look at it. It looks newer than most of downtown.” The fire resonator narrowed her eyes at the suspicious building.  
  
Shouri looked over the building himself. “Looks normal to me.” He commented. “Sahji explained to us that they’re not allowed to exist in this world, so he has to use some kind of like pocket dimension thing or some nonsense like that.”  
  
With that the group entered the “pocket dimension thing” in question. A humid, earthy scent washed over the group as they walked into what seemed to be a greenhouse. A small girl rushed around the rows of flowers to greet the group. “Ah guests!” She smiled.  
  
“Good morning?” Shouri asked.  
  
“Good morning! How are all of you doing today?” The woman asked. She was a petite girl, a head smaller than Blakki. She had long, free flowing green hair that seemed to blend in with the foliage around her. Like Sahji, she donned robes, however her robes were patterned more like a tree. Brown, root like pattering ran up to about her waist, and the upper half of her robes had a green, leafy pattern.  
  
Rebecca spoke up. “We’re fine.” The fire resonator said quietly, still looking around the shop.  
  
“That’s great! I’m really glad to hear that!” The small woman smiled once more. She curtsied to the group. “I’m Lanvi, the land sage.” She looked to Shouri and Blakki. “You’re Sahji’s right?”  
  
“Uhh, yeah.” The two looked to each other, then back to Lanvi.  
  
The sage beamed with joy at her correct assumption. “I knew it! He told me all about you two. Shouri and Blakki, right?” The pair simply nodded. Without warning, Lanvi approached the duo and grabbed one of their hands each. “Hmmm…” She closed her eyes. “Oh!” her eyes opened suddenly. “That’s weird…”  
  
The lunar resonator and her maestro stared at the sage in bewilderment.  
  
“Ah!” The sage dropped their hands as if they had suddenly grown hot. “My apologies! I just wanted to feel your tempo.” She explained. Her eyes drifted over to Colette and Rebecca. “Wait a minute-” her attention suddenly completely shifted to the fire-based pair. “I don’t recognize you. Which sage are you under?”  
  
Colette and Rebecca looked to each other and awkwardly shuffled about for a moment before Colette decided to answer: “We’re not; we’re from the other world.”  
  
There was an awkward silence. Lanvi just kind of stared with a blank smile on her face. “Eh?” Was the first noise that escaped her form after the long period of silence.  
  
“WAIT, WHAT?!”


	54. Chapter 54

The car ride back home was silent, the four young adults all deep in thought after what Lanvi more or less had a panic attack about Colette and Rebecca being there.  
  
 _“No no no! Not again!”  
“The last time this happened it was almost a disaster!”  
“Why now!? I just got this shop set up the way I liked it too!”_  
  
Unlike Sahji, Lanvi wasn’t going to explain what the big deal was and ended up vanishing into her back room after freaking out for a suitably long enough period. No matter how much they called to her, she stopped responding after that. Left with no other choice, the group finally departed the shop, albeit a bit unnerved at the reaction.  
  
“So we broke the universe I guess?” Rebecca finally spoke.  
“I think we need to get back home and talk to Sahji. I know he’ll explain this shit.” Shouri told the pair in the back.  
“This wasn’t how I was expecting my first meeting with a real live sage to go.” Colette muttered, disheartened by the experience.  
“Sorry they’re so wild.” Blakki laughed nervously.  
“We really should have expected it to be honest, there are all kinds of stories in our world about the sages and how capricious they can be.” Colette sighed.  
  
The car pulled up into the driveway of the home they were staying at. Shifting the car into park, they all sat for a moment. “Well I hate to tell you, but it sounds like those stories are pretty fuckin’ accurate.” The boy chuckled.  
  
\---  
  
“So, what is this called again?” Rebecca asked, eyes narrowed as she watched the television.  
“It’s a presidential debate.” Marsuru replied.  
  
“Right… and what is it’s purpose?”  
“Two perspective candidates for the title of president debate their platform.”  
“And a “president” is?”  
“The leader of this land.”  
“Ah! So this person is like the Grand Masters then! When do they fight?”  
“Sadly there won’t be any battles or physical competition, though I think the American people might enjoy some of these old fogeys throwing down.”  
  
It was at this point in the conversation that Shouri and Blakki entered the room. Notably, the duo sported their white t-shirts, and a pair of shorts. Shouri had a large towel draped around his neck. “What are you doing Grandpa?” The boy asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
“I’m teaching these young ones about American politics.” The elder chuckled.  
“Why don’t they fight Shouri?” Rebecca asked. “Surely it’s better to pick leaders based on their merit in battle.”  
“I’m not saying I disagree with you, but that’s just not how it works here anymore.” Shouri replied.  
“How boring; you have anything where crazy people are trying to tear each other limb from limb?” Colette suddenly chimed in.  
  
Everyone looked to the previously silent girl. She continued listlessly staring at the TV, either unaware of the attention she garnered, or ignoring it. She did however elaborate:  
  
“I like watching people and thinking “I'm better than them”."  
  
Shouri rolled his eyes. “Well, you have fun with the 40th season of Survivor; Blakki and I are going up to the spring.”  
  
“Enjoy kids. I’ll keep these two here so you two can have some fun.”  
“Marsuru Tomoshibi!” Mary screeched from the kitchen.  
“WHAT?! They’re nineteen! They’re at the peak of their youth! Let them have some fun woman!”  
“You will not take that tone with me!”  
  
Blakki and Shouri quickly made their exit, leaving Colette and Rebecca to witness the domestic disturbance.  
  
\---  
  
“Here we are once more.” Shouri announced, arriving up at the spring they had soaked their feet in the day prior. It was early evening, the sun beginning to dip towards the horizon. The boy threw the large towel onto the pool chair.  
  
Blakki walked over to the water and dipped her toes in it. “It’s warm.” she smiled. Her gaze drifted up from the crystal-clear waters to see Shouri taking his shirt off. Now it was her face that was warm. “C-C-C-COSA STAI FACENDO?!” She yelped out pointing at the boy as her face grew redder.  
  
He raised an eyebrow. “Taking off my shirt?”  
  
“B-b-b-but-!”  
“Were you planning on swimming in those? Grandma Mary gave you that swim suit so you wouldn’t get the shorts and shirt wet.”  
  
The vixen looked down at her own clothing. “W-wait… I have to… in front of you?”  
  
Shouri rolled his eyes so hard he thought they might roll right out of his head for a moment. “You know, you wanted me to shower with you before, which involved being totally naked.”  
  
“I was being weird!” She admitted.  
  
“You also totally pulled me into the bedroom at Noir’s place and asked me to touch you. You said it in Italian, but I got the jist-”  
  
“Stop it Sho! I get it!” Her face was red as an apple as she shouted at him. Her bottom lip trembled as she glared at the ground, her hands vice-gripped to the edge of her shirt. Finally, after much deliberation, she slowly pulled it off and slid her shorts off. She stood for a moment in her black bikini, shaking like a leaf. “Th-there I-I did it…” She muttered, avoiding eye contact.  
  
Silence.  
  
Crippling, awkward silence.  
  
She mustered up the courage to look her maestro in the eyes. He was staring at her, looking her over. “Wh-wh-why are you staring?” She squeaked. He quickly adverted his gaze. “I was just… appreciating my girlfriend.” He muttered.  
  
More silence.  
  
“Girlfriend...?”  
“You; dummy.”  
“Me? Your girlfriend?”  
“Yeah.”  
  
…  
  
“Blakki!  
“Blakki!”  
“Come on wake up!”  
  
She opened her eyes, Shouri was hovering over her, eyes wrought with concern. “Sho?” She asked woozily. Shouri’s worried expression changed to one of relief. “You suddenly just dropped to the ground, you’re lucky I caught you before you smashed your head on the ground.” The boy told his partner.  
  
Blakki laid there for a moment, attempting to catch up with reality. Her brain finally realized where she was: in her maestro’s arms, wearing nothing but a bikini. “AHH!” She suddenly began to flail, knocking herself out of his arms, and landing on her back. “Ow!” She yelped.  
  
Shouri frowned at his resonator’s shenanigans.  
  
“D-did I imagine that? That you-?”  
“I mean, if you don’t want me to be your boyfriend-”  
“No! I do! More than anything!”  
  
The pair sat in awkward silence for a moment. Blakki eventually sat up and hugged her tail, glancing away from the boy she loved.  
  
“I don’t remember who I was. I just get vague feelings.” Blakki started in a hushed tone. “I always have the feeling that none of this is real, like I don’t deserve it. I tried to dismiss those feelings, but going to the other world and finding people who hated me, who stared at me like I was a freak, when I should have been normal there… I didn’t even get that here.”  
  
“I feel like my heart was scarred, as if nobody ever loved me. Like I couldn’t be loved.” She admitted. “Just the concept of “me” was so vile that the idea of finding someone to say “you, I want you” just baffles me, and I-”  
  
Before she could continue pouring her heart out, Shouri leaned forward and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m sorry Blakki.”  
  
“F-for what Sho..?”  
“I’ve hurt you too.”  
“It was an accident. You were only thinking about me.”  
“…I love you so much; I want to do everything in my power to make sure you never have to feel that way again.”  
  
Tears poured from Blakki’s eyes as she smiled warmly. She reached around, returning his warm embrace, with her tail wrapping around him as well. “I love you too Sho.”  
  
\---  
  
Shouri and Blakki returned to the home just a bit after sunset. The resonator wrapped around her maestro’s arm. Surprisingly, Colette, Rebecca and Marsuru were all were they were when the pair had initially departed, though the choice of television programming had switched to a historical documentary.  
  
“I understand! This George Washington person was a great commander then?”  
“Actually, for once, yes.”  
  
Rebecca was doing her best to understand American history it seemed, with Marsuru guiding her through it. Colette was content to just listen to the program which was answering all of Rebecca’s questions.  
  
“Ah, the lovebirds have returned.” Marsuru noted. Blakki blushed slightly, but refused to release her captive. “So when should I expect to see my grand kids? Or would they be grand kits?” The elder asked with a chuckle.  
  
THWACK!  
  
From nearly across the house a ladle flew, smashing into the elder’s head and knocking him off the couch. “MAR-SU-RU!” Mary could be heard shouting from the kitchen.  
  
“For an old lady, she has a hell of an arm.” Rebecca noted.  
“And aim, I don’t even think she could actually see him from the kitchen.” Colette added.  
  
“I-I’m not pregnant.” Blakki grumbled, her face entirely red. Shouri shook his head at his overly energetic grandparents.  
  
\---  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
“Bolide, Forte!”  
  
Another night, another group of scherzando. Like the night prior, this group was particularly powerful. They had encountered Julian and Liam once more, and had them go home, promising to take care of the overly powerful scherzando. It was going well, until a group of them broke free and ran.  
  
“Damn it!” Shouri cursed, breaking down into a run.  
“Do they always do this?!” Colette shouted, struggling to catch her breath as they ran.  
“Only once you get strong enough!” Blakki shouted back, leading the group.  
“This is obnoxious!” Rebecca barked, lighting her feet up with her class skill to boost her own speed.  
  
“Blakki! Catch em with Mente Offuscata, Piano!” Shouri commanded. The lunar resonator held out her hand, a quick burst of purple energy from her hand stunned all but one of the fleeing scherzando  
“Rebecca! Trap them! Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto!” Colette commanded. The fire resonator summoned a ring of fire to surround the stunned scherzando and flew into the ring she created to deal with the ensnared foes.  
  
Shouri and Blakki ran around the flames, continuing the chase. “It’s heading towards the house!” The maestro barked. “Mente Off-”  
  
Before he could finish his spell however, an arrow of lunar energy seemingly shot by the nearby forest itself pierced the scherzando, destroying it instantly. The pair skidded to a stop.  
  
“D-did you do that Blakki?”  
“N-no… but that was Luce Lunare, it felt like Fortissimo.”  
  
Rebecca and Colette caught up at this point. “Hey guys! You got it!” The fire resonator grinned toothily.  
  
“Well it’s gone, yeah, but we didn’t “get” it” Blakki frowned.  
“Eh?”  
  
Shouri stared in the direction where the arrow of lunar energy came from. “Someone else sniped it. Someone with a Lunar resonator.” The group remained silent for a moment, all deep in thought.  
  
“I guess it’s not too unreasonable to think there would be another maestro around here, what with Lanvi setting up shop here.” Shouri reasoned out. “But why would they avoid us?” Blakki asked.  
  
“Dunno.  
  
The group walked back to the house, not sensing anymore scherzando. When they got back however, they found Marsuru and Mary sitting on the edge of the porch. “Eh? Grandpa, Grandma? What are you doing up?” Shouri asked.  
  
Marsuru chuckled. “We like to stargaze. Call it an old person’s hobby.” The elder smirked. “The moon is especially beautiful tonight. Don’t you agree?” Mary smiled warmly, leaning back on the porch, almost as if she was sunbathing.  
  
“What were you kids up to?” The grandfather asked of his grandson.  
  
“Oh you know, midnight marathon sprint.” The boy laughed nervously, trying to avoid lying to his grandparents without telling them the details of their nighttime excursions.  
  
“Ah, well you lot look especially tired. You should hit the hay.” The old man advised.  
  
“Right, we’ll do that.” Colette replied, walking into the house, her partner close behind.  
  
“Are you going to bed soon?” Shouri asked.  
  
“Not for a little while, your Grandmother loves her star gazing.”  
“You might say I’ve always been more nocturnal. Night is just so peaceful.”  
  
Shouri nodded slowly. Both of his grandparents were always a bit out there as it were, and tonight was no exception. “Well, be careful. Good night.”  
  
“You worry too much. Nothing happens out here.”  
  
As Shouri and Blakki walked into the house, the fox girl's ears twitched. She stopped and turned back to look at the elder couple. She swore she heard Marsuru add in “that we can’t handle.” But it was on even the edge of her hearing. Was she imagining it?  
  
“You coming Blakki?”  
“Coming Sho!”


	55. Chapter 55

The following morning.  
  
Shouri stood on the edge of the helicopter that was idling in the driveway. “I knew we couldn’t keep you long” Marsuru smiled warmly at his grandson.  
  
“Sorry gramps, we’ll come visit sometime.”  
“Don’t worry yourself about me. Just hold on to that little vixen you got yourself. You don’t find many like her these days.”  
  
The boy couldn’t help but smile. “If she hasn’t left by now, I doubt there’s much I could do to make her leave.”  
  
As Marsuru watched the helicopter rise into the sky and depart the mountain home, his wife walked up. “They’re gone already?” Mary asked.  
  
“They’re young and busy. Couldn’t keep ‘em here forever.”  
“We were that way when we were their age.”  
“I can only hope when Shouri faces the same choice we had to make, he doesn’t regret it.”  
“Did you regret your choice?”  
“Not at all, my dear vixen.”  
  
\---  
  
Five hours passed in the blink of an eye. A quick helicopter ride to the airport and then a small flight to the airport near Shouri’s small hometown. The quartet walked out to the terminal. They had landed in a relatively small local airport, only one big name airline flew out of there, most other planes that utilized the tiny airport were private pilots, such as Miles.  
  
All that being said, finding their ride should have been easy.  
  
Shouri looked around, his frown sharpening as he couldn’t locate his sister. “Hmmm…” He hummed, reaching into his pocket to retrieve his phone. It was still off from the plane ride. “Where’s Aura?” Blakki asked at this point.  
  
“Dunno.”  
“Maybe she’s outside.”  
“I swear she said she’d be in the terminal. Wouldn’t hurt to check.”  
  
While Shouri’s phone powered up, the group made their way out of the terminal. “Ah!” Blakki exclaimed. She pointed at a familiar silver car parked at the very far end of the relatively empty parking lot. “Well, she’s here at least.” Shouri shrugged. At this point, his phone was done booting, so he tried to call his sister.  
  
No answer.  
  
“Huh.” He stared at his phone. He had the right number. The boy tried again.  
  
No answer.  
  
“Ok…” His eyes narrowed in annoyance. He then sent her a text message that they were there.  
  
Five minutes passed. No answer.  
  
“Let’s just walk over there Sho, it’s not that far.” Blakki suggested, seeing how communicating with Aura seemed to be out of the question for whatever reason. With a defeated sigh, Shouri pocketed his phone. “Fine.” He groaned, not really wanting to walk the distance to the car.  
  
And so the group set off on another incredible, unforgettable journey… across a parking lot. As they approached the car, the door opened and Aura stepped out. “Hey! What was with your phone?!” Shouri shouted to his sister.  
  
She didn’t answer, but instead walked towards the approaching group.  
  
Before Shouri could get in another word-  
  
SMACK!  
  
-Aura whipped her hand across his face so hard it actually knocked him off his feet. The trio of girls behind him gasped in shock. “WHAT THE FUCK AURA?!” The boy barked on the ground, holding his now very red check while resisting the tears welling up in his eyes.  
  
“WHAT THE FUCK YOURSELF SHOURI TOMOSHIBI!”  
“Blakki, La Bella Vita Moderato Tutti.”  
  
The healer knelt down next to her maestro and held her hands out; a soothing pulse of light washing over her partner. The red quickly faded from his face. He muttered a small thank you to Blakki, who helped him to his feet. Once he was up again, Aura laid into him:  
  
“YOU LEAVE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY RIGHT AFTER GETTING OUT OF THE HOSPITAL AND FUCKING VANISH. THEN THAT POOR GIRL COMES TO MY HOUSE BAWLING HER EYES OUT THAT YOU AND AMIKA ARE GONE! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!”  
“THAT I’M SORRY AND I SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU WHAT WAS GOING ON!”  
  
Aura was disarmed by that acceptance of fault from her brother. “Er…” She looked away awkwardly. “GOOD.” She walked back to the vehicle. “Get in the car.”  
  
Shouri looked back to Colette and Rebecca. “Well, you heard her, come on.” He said as if the previous domestic disturbance didn’t even happen. The pair of girls just stood there still in shock at it all. “I-is that normal?” Colette asked Blakki.  
  
“Yeah. It’s about average.” She nodded. “Though Aura was really mad, I’m pretty sure she broke skin with that smack.” The resonator pondered aloud.  
  
Colette and Rebecca shared a look, wondering what exactly they had gotten themselves into.  
  
\---  
  
“So you wanna explain what the fuck happened?” Aura asked as she blazed down the highway at a nauseating speed. Blakki and Colette in the back were both braced in fearfully, while Rebecca seemingly had a new idol.  
  
Shouri was nonplussed by his sister’s erratic driving style and merely leaned on his armrest in the front seat. “Remember that whack-job that kidnapped me?”  
  
“Yeah? We burnt down his building.”  
“He beat up Blakki and I and sent us to another world.”  
“You expect me to buy that?”  
“I brought souvenirs.” He motioned to the fire pair in the back.  
  
Aura adjusted her rear-view mirror to look at the duo in question. “What’s your deals?” She asked.  
  
“I’m Colette.” The maestro whimpered.  
Rebecca sat silently for a moment before realizing she had been addressed. “I’m Rebecca, her resonator!”  
  
“You two came from that other world?”  
“We did…”  
  
Fixing her mirror, she looked to her brother. “You’re a real piece of work. You know that?” She grumbled.  
  
The boy sat up and glared at his sister. “Hey it’s not my fuckin’ fault! I told those two that they shouldn’t butt in, and now here we are in a world they’re completely unfamiliar with!” Shouri protested.  
  
“It’s true!” Blakki chimed in from the back.  
“Hush peanut gallery!” Aura barked, causing the lunar resonator to wilt.  
  
“So Aura.” Shouri’s voice suddenly turned deadly serious. “What happened in the two weeks that we were gone?”  
  
Aura remained quiet for a moment. “Not sure what you mean.”  
  
“Did anyone show up or say anything to you?”  
“Nobody. I’ve been waiting for some suits to take me away.”  
“What about Sonia?”  
“She hasn’t told me anything. I’ve checked on her every day though.”  
“Business as usual?”  
“Business as usual.”  
  
Shouri hummed to himself and stoked his chin in thought. “I don’t like it.” He spoke after mulling it over. “What don’t you like?” Aura raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Seven told me that Ryo was trying to get rid of all maestros. She said he had a machine that would get rid of us. The way she explained it – it sounded like almost like a rapture type thing. Like we’d just vanish off the streets.” He paused to gather his thoughts. “But the machine he used on us was small. I doubt he’d be able to snap and make all the maestros vanish like Seven claimed.”  
  
“So what’s the big deal then?” His sister questioned the concern she heard in his voice.  
  
The boy grunted in annoyance. “There were at least two other artificial resonators besides Seven. One copied Seven, and the other was the one that ended up beating us pretty badly.” He shuddered remembering being smashed against the wall repeatedly. “If Blakki wasn’t a healer we probably would have died from concussions.”  
  
“But Sho-” Blakki interjected from the back. “-we’re stronger now, plus Colette and Rebecca are with us.”  
  
The car suddenly screeched to a stop. “What the fuck are you two planning to do!?” Aura glared at her brother, who was recovering from the sudden whiplash.  
  
“He’s gonna come after us!”  
“What makes you so sure?”  
“His resonators can enter electronics. As soon as we enter town they’ll be watching us”  
“Why is it so important that you go after him first!? You haven’t even gotten home yet!”  
  
Shouri looked down. “Because…” He slowly raised his head. “He’ll come after you.” The boy sighed. “Blakki and I have to stop him for good so you’re safe.” Aura maintained her glare, but remained quiet. “I promise you we’re much stronger than we were when he beat us the first time.” He told his sister.  
  
“Fine. Do what you want.” Aura began driving once more. “I swear to god though, if you two end up dead I’m gonna bring you back to life so I can kill you myself.”  
  
Shouri chuckled. “Please at least have some faith in us.”  
  
\---  
  
Colette and Rebecca stared out the window as the car rolled into Shouri’s hometown. This was it, the place where Shouri lived, where he found Blakki, and where his sworn enemy lived (or at least that’s how Rebecca and Colette interpreted the last item). It was a small, quaint town. A very tiny “downtown” area, a shopping district, and then a small suburban area.  
  
“This used to be a prime logging village. It slowly blossomed into a city, but kind of degraded over time. Now it’s just a small town that breaks up the endless forests of northern Cali.” Shouri explained to the pair. They both looked back out the window again taking in the rustic nature of the small American town. They’d pass through the “nice” part of town, and more into the city portion. Finally, the car pulled into an apartment complex. Wasn’t the worst place in the world, but one could definitely tell the age from the buildings.  
  
Pulling into a parking space, Aura shut off the car. “Well, here we are, home sweet home.” Aura said simply.  
  
“Finally.” Shouri sighed, getting out of the car himself. Blakki followed suit rather quickly.  
  
“You alright Colette?” Rebecca asked, noting her partner’s lack of movement.  
“…kinda homesick.” She admitted.  
“Me too.” The resonator lowered her head.  
  
Deciding not to worry their new hosts, the pair exited the car and followed the trio of Aura, Shouri and Blakki up to unit 471. Aura walked in first, leaving the door open for the rest of the group. Shouri and Blakki allowed their guests in.  
  
“Sorry it’s not my grandpa’s place, but it’s home.” Shouri told the two. The guests nodded slowly, looking around and taking stock of their new surroundings.  
  
It was a smaller apartment. Two bedrooms that they could see. A small kitchen, and a living room. Despite their sub-par living situation, the furniture they had seemed to be quite nice. They also boasted a large flat screen TV to boot.  
  
“My room is over here.” Shouri directed his guests in the direction of his own bedroom. The quartet made their way over to his room. Shouri’s room was about what Colette and Rebecca had expected. A single, full-sized bed, a desk with a computer and chair, and a single shelf with all manner of nick-knacks and other miscellaneous items.  
  
Blakki immediately rushed over to the bed and hopped onto it. She rolled amongst the sheets and blankets. “Ahhhh… Mi è mancato questo posto!” She laid back on the bed, arms spread out, taking in the sights and smells of the familiar bedroom.  
  
Shouri sat at his desk and moved the mouse of his computer. He grunted in frustration at the lack of reaction from his computer. “Power must have gone out at some point.” He commented, reaching under his desk to turn on his system.  
  
Meanwhile Colette and Rebecca just kind of stood there, unsure of what to do. Blakki noticed this and sat up. “Come sit down.” She patted the bed next to her. The other girls took a seat on the bed next to Blakki. Shouri turned his chair around and faced them. “So I kinda implied that you’d fight with us before. But, would you be willing to help us fight Ryo and his artificial resonators?” He asked.  
  
Colette looked down, thinking it over. “How powerful are they?” Rebecca chimed in. The red-haired maestro looked over at her resonator who simply stared at Shouri. The fire resonator held a determined glare.  
  
The male maestro frowned, going into thought himself. “I should warn you first: Ryo Saitou has no soul, he lacks rhythm.”  
  
The foreign pair narrowed their eyes. “Are you waxing poetic or what? He can’t not have rhythm. Every living thing has rhythm.” Colette said.  
  
The boy chuckled. “Maybe I am. He’s closer to scherzando than human though, that’s for sure. His resonators if you want to call them that are quite vicious. They ignore the element and attribute system. Even though their spells look like they should be elemental in nature they work fine on any scherzando I tried them against.”  
  
“Do you remember what the spells were?” Colette asked.  
“Oh yeah, I think I remember you mentioning you used one of them before.” Rebecca chimed in.  
  
“Infinite Railgun fires a point in space at the target.  
Air Rake sends out blades of air that slice the target.  
Trench Pressure is a high-pressure water-like attack.  
Fire Ceiling basically drops a wall of fire on the opponent.  
Void out makes kind of a black hole that absorbs any attacks and restores health.  
Evaporated Radiance draws rhythm from the air to restore health over a small period of time.  
Absolute Zero turns the user’s body to ice, protecting them from attacks for a brief period.  
Teleport is exactly as it says on the tin, lets the user and anyone they’re in contact with teleport.”  
  
The duo mulled that over. “Protection, healing, mobility, and fire power. They really have it all don’t they?” Colette spoke up after a moment in thought.  
  
“I’m in.” Rebecca said.  
“Rebecca?!” Colette exclaimed.  
The fox turned to her maestro. “If you don’t agree hand me over to Shouri.” She said. “I wanna fight these things.”  
Colette turned her brows up in worry. “B-but why?”  
  
Rebecca took in a deep breath and exhaled. She smiled. “It’s all their fault, right?”  
“Eh?”  
“Think about it, if this Ryu guy or whatever didn’t have a beef with resonators Shouri and Blakki would have never ended up in our world. If they never ended up in our world, we would have never ended up here. It’s not like Shouri and Blakki asked to be whisked away to a different planet. Right?”  
“That’s… actually a good point.” Colette couldn’t help but smile.  
  
The fire resonator pouted at her maestro. “Hey, just because my Knowledge is weak doesn’t mean I’m a moron.”  
  
Colette closed her eyes, thinking it over one more time. She relaxed herself and smiled. “I guess we’re in then.”   
  
“Great. We just have one more person to ask.”  
  
\---  
  
“Welcome to Renoir’s!”  
“Hey Vinci.”  
  
The male resonator just stared at the group of four that entered his shop, he rubbed his eyes making sure he wasn't seeing things. After a wave a smirk from Shouri, Vinci turned his head towards the back room. “Sonia!” He shouted. The girl rushed into the room and stared at Shouri for a moment. She teared up and rushed over.  
  
SMACK!  
  
Colette and Rebecca gasped as Sonia’s hand practically bolted across Shouri’s face. He brought his own hand up to his reddened cheek smirking slightly as he rubbed the point of impact. The maestro looked his counterpart dead in the eyes. “Aura did it better.” The boy commented.  
  
SMACK!  
  
Blakki got one too for good measure. “Ow.” She said flatly, rubbing her own reddened cheek. “Not a fan of that.” She laughed to her maestro. “Yet everyone seems to like doing it.” Shouri looked over to Colette and Rebecca who just stared blankly at the spectacle unfolding before their eyes. “You guys want to take a whack at me too?” He asked.  
  
“You both are UNBELIEVABLE!” Sonia was full on crying at this point.  
  
“Anyways, this is our friend Sonia!” Shouri said to Colette and Rebecca.  
“Sonia, this is Colette and Rebecca, they come from the other world.” Blakki added.  
  
Sonia glared through her tears at Shouri. “You corrupted her.” She said, referring to Blakki. With a loud sigh, the seamstress composed herself and turned to the other-worlders. “Hey, my name is Sonia Renoir.”  
  
“I’m Vinci, her partner.” The resonator spoke up. Rebecca looked the new resonator over. “What are you?” She asked, not seeing an obvious element.  
  
“Null-Slashing.” He replied.  
“Oh neat, I’m Fire-Null.” Rebecca grinned toothily.  
  
“So besides me being mad at you, what’s going on?” Sonia asked, leaning against back against the front counter.  
  
Shouri took a step back before he spoke. “We’re going to fight Ryo.” Sonia stepped forward, raising her hand again. “WAIT WAIT! WE WANT YOUR HELP.” The boy clarified, stopping he charge of the angry shop owner.  
  
The girl lowered her arm, stepping back and folding her arms across her chest. “I suppose it’s for the best, honestly. There have been some strange suits wandering around the neighborhood recently. A couple of them have popped in. They don’t buy anything, shoot they don’t even say anything. They just kind of shoot Vinci a look and walk out.” Sonia’s fists tightened up. “Makes me nervous as hell. I can’t lose Vinci.” She trembled.  
  
The null-resonator in question looked down, in shame? It was definitely shame, Rebecca could feel it from Vinci. Her ears twitched as she heard Sonia mutter “I can’t go back to that loneliness again…” Rebecca’s expression softened, the raw emotion from the pair washed over her.  
  
“…Sonia?” Rebecca spoke up. Everyone turned to her. “Where do you live?”  
  
“Here. There’s a living space upstairs.”  
“How many rooms?”  
“Two bedrooms, why?”  
“Would you mind if Colette and I stay here?”  
  
Colette looked over. “Rebecca?”  
  
The resonator turned to her own maestro. “I doubt you wanna sleep on a couch, and if they’re like Shouri and Blakki were when we first met them, we might have some stuff we can teach them.” The fire resonator reasoned out.  
  
The foreign maestro hummed in thought. “Let’s think this through logically. Sonia, may I please see your tuner?” She started.  
  
Sonia nodded and handed her own clear cased tuner over to her fellow maestro. Colette pulled out her own red tuner. Sonia was curious, as she had never seen a tuner in that color before. Then again, the other colors she had seen were Shouri’s black tuner, and Amika’s blue one.  
  
“Hmm, Forte also huh?” Colette commented to herself.  
“And Vinci is Null, so he doesn’t get a class skill.” Rebecca pointed out  
“Not an active one. Null elements get bonus defense built in as a kind of trade off. Null-Shielders are raid tanks for a reason.”  
“Yeah, but those are super rare.”  
  
Vinci had enough of the technobabble. “My what?”  
  
Colette snapped her fingers. “Oh right! Rebecca, show them.” The vixen nodded and ignited the heels of her feet. “Fire resonators get Icarus' ala.” The maestro told them. Rebecca moved about the small space they were in as if she was wearing roller skates. She pivoted around and jumped, but instead of coming down, the fox-girl floated in the air.  
  
“We got Volontà Estesa.” Shouri motioned to Blakki, who telekinetically picked up Sonia’s tuner and returned it to its owner. “I’m telekinetic.” The lunar resonator smiled.  
  
“Class skills use the resonators built in rhythm reserves to use these powers. Most have drawbacks. All class skills weaken the resonators natural defenses against resonator and scherzando spells.” Colette explained, Rebecca landing next to her.  
  
“So, Rebecca can use her fire to fight without you?” Vinci asked.  
“If needed.” Rebecca nodded.  
  
Colette looked to Shouri. “You and Blakki are strong enough on your own. I think the four of us here together will be for the best in case that Ryo guy decides to pull something.”  
  
Shouri grunted in annoyance. He didn’t necessarily like this, but he knew this was the logical play. Not only could Colette help train Sonia so her and Vinci were stronger, but two relatively strong maestros would fare much better than one.  
  
“Okay, first order of business, catch Sonia up with what we learned while in your world, and then we strike.”

\---  
  
Later that night

“Hey Shouri, what happened?”  
“…what do you mean?”  
  
Blakki stopped just shy of the living room. Shouri and his sister, Aura, were in the kitchen. She pressed her back against the wall and just listened to their conversation. The resonator didn’t want to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help herself.  
  
“Something happened in that other world. You seem… different.”  
“Do I really have to talk about it?”  
“Considering the hell you put me through, that’s the least you owe me.”  
  
The resonator heard her maestro sigh loudly. What was he going to talk about? So much happened in the few weeks that they were in the other world that she couldn’t think of what he would tell Aura.  
  
“Blakki and I kinda pissed off the government.”  
“So par for the course.”  
“Hey! We didn’t fuckin’ do anything; they literally sent like swat guys after us just cause we were foreign.”  
“Just like home.”  
  
There was a brief silence. “You’re not wrong.” He conceded.  
  
“Anyways… Lina was there.”  
“Bullshit.”  
“I’m serious. I wouldn’t joke about this. She was there, without memories, kinda like how I found Blakki.”  
“Shouri, it must be some like parallel world nonsense. There’s no way Lina could have been there.” Another pause. “She DIED Shouri.” Aura spoke up after a moment. “We both watched her die.”  
  
Blakki looked down during the brief break in the conversation. Shouri had mentioned Aura was in the house and the only other survivor of the fire that claimed the lives of Lina and his parents. It made sense that Aura would feel just as strongly about that event as her brother.  
  
“You don’t think I know that?” Blakki’s head rose. Shouri’s voice was quivering. She looked down. Despite it all, he was still hurting. The lunar resonator was doing her best to mend the wound on his heart, but she knew such a deep scar would take time to heal.  
  
“It was her. I know it was her. Even without her memories, I know that girl was our Lina.”  
“How can you be so sure?”  
“Besides just my gut telling me it was her, she was the exact same person, right down to her little quirks. She also recognized names from our world, where the other people like Colette and Rebecca didn’t.”  
“…it was really her?”  
“I know it was her.”  
“…how was she doing?”  
  
Blakki heard Shouri chuckle. “She got a new boyfriend.”  
  
“Oh?”  
“Yeah. Blakki and I got into a fight about it.”  
“I can see why. That girl has been into you since I met her.”  
“Call me a moron, I almost lost her because of it.”  
  
The fox-girl wilted. She felt bad about yelling at Shouri like that. He really was everything to her, but she couldn’t help herself. Blakki was a fighter at heart and Lina was quite frankly, a threat to her and Shouri’s relationship.  
  
“So why didn’t Lina come back here with you?”  
  
There it was, the question both Shouri and Blakki were dreading. The lunar resonator knew this wouldn’t end well. Shouri would most definitely break down. She pushed herself off the wall, hesitating over what her next action would be.  
  
“Sh-shouri?”  
“I-I let her die again Aura…”  
“Wait, what happened?”  
“We were outmatched… and she had to use a s-spell that costs the user’s life to get us out.”  
“That’s a thing?”  
“APPARENTLY!”  
  
Blakki bit her bottom lip, glaring at the ground in frustration. If only she hadn’t yelled at Shouri like that. If only she hadn’t run away, Lina would probably still be here.  
  
“It’s all my fault, if only I hadn’t yelled at Blakki. If only I could just get over myself!”  
  
The lunar resonator looked up, her jaw catching some slack. Why was he blaming himself for this? She was the one that had stormed out!  
  
“Shouri you’re allowed to have emotions.”  
“No! I was obsessed with someone who had moved on, someone who was happy. I was wrong, and I hurt the one person who cared because I was blinded by nostalgia. I don’t deserve her, I deserve to be alone.”  
  
At this point, Blakki stepped out and walked towards the kitchen. Before either sibling could continue, the fox-girl stepped into the room. They both looked at her. Shouri’s face was soaked in his own tears. “B-Blakki-”  
  
She rushed over to Shouri and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly. He could feel the warmth of her breath as she trembled. The girl held him tighter and tighter, the muffled sobbing barely making it out.  
  
“Sho! Ti amo tanto!” She lifted her head off of his chest, tears streaming down her face. “Sei tutto per me! Non posso vivere senza di te!” The girl cried out. Aura stared in confusion at the sobbing girl who was attached to her brother. She had no idea what the vixen was saying.  
  
Shouri stared at her for a moment, before smiling warmly. Even without speaking the language, he knew exactly what she had said, the warmth of her words still managed to reach him despite the language barrier. “Me too Blakki. I’m sorry I’m such an idiot.”  
  
The girl smiled through her tears. “Non sei un'idiota. Dopotutto, la vita è difficile.”


	56. Chapter 56

Five in the evening.  
  
Various business people exited the nauseatingly tall One Main Street business center. Parting the stream of humans stood a group of six. Shouri and Blakki directly in front with Colette, Rebecca, Sonia, and Vinci behind them. It has been roughly a week since their return to their sleepy hometown, but time had passed in the blink of an eye.  
  
“We’re really doing this huh?” Sonia asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice.  
“I’m just surprised Ryo has given us as much time as he has.” Shouri commented, eyes focused on the building before them.  
  
Pulling his tuner from his side, he glanced at Blakki’s vitals from the health monitor it provided.  
  
 _Status: Ready  
Rhythm: 100%  
Heart Rate: 72BPM  
Oxygen Saturation: 97%  
Hydration: 55%  
Last Sleep Efficiency: 83%  
Actual Sleep: 6hrs 5mins  
Time since Last Sleep: 6hrs 33mins ago_  
  
Gripping the device tightly, he stepped towards the building. “Let’s get this over with.” The other two maestros looked to each other, nodded silently and followed the boy into the belly of the beast.  
  
Sonia, Colette and their resonators looked around the lobby of the building they walked into. It was quite nice, way more lavish than any of the other buildings around. It seemed like the center of wealth for the small, sleepy town. Shouri and Blakki looked around, it was unchanged from their last visit, except for one key detail: at the opposite end of the lobby stood the man in the suit, Ryo Saitou. On either side of him were the artificial resonators he used.  
  
“Mr. Tomoshibi.”  
“Ryo.”  
“Bravo to you on returning here.”  
“You’re awfully talkative today.”  
  
Ryo pushed up his sunglasses. “I’m simply astounded that you would come here after what happened last time.” He commented.  
  
“I need to thank you for that little vacation by the way.” Shouri shook his head. “Though I can’t say I meshed too well with the locals.” The boy chuckled, glaring at the man with a smirk. Ryo looked to the smaller of the two resonators next to him. “Vail, deal with the other two.”  
  
The girl grumbled in protest. “But I wanted them-” She glared at Lunar pair. “-they just blasted me before I could even do anything last time.”  
“I’ll give you some of the leftovers.” Whistler chuckled.  
“There won’t be any!”  
“I mean… you’re not wrong.”  
  
The trio of maestros stood at the ready, keeping their focus entirely on their opponents.  
  
“Ready Blakki?”  
“Yeah, Sho.”  
  
Silence. The tension could be cut with a knife. Ryo slowly brought his arm up, holding it parallel with the ground. There seemed to be a watch on his wrist. Maybe his version of a tuner?  
  
Shouri and Ryo stared each other down, like gunman in the old west, waiting for the clock to strike noon. In unison they spoke their first commands:  
  
“FLC700 – Teleport, Full Access”  
“Blakki, Passo Silenzioso, Presto Staccato.”  
  
With those first commands issued the battle began. Blakki and Whistler both vanished instantly. Whistler appeared next to Shouri, but she was immediately blasted in the face by yellow rhythm.  
  
Behind his shades, Ryo’s eyes widened; shocked by that development, and watching his own resonator get thrown to the ground from the attack. He hadn’t anticipated the maestro being able to use his rhythm in that manner. What made things a bit more dire was Blakki appearing in front of him. “Shit!” Whistler teleported between Blakki and Ryo. She would see the vixen smirk wickedly as she was grabbed and thrown into Ryo headfirst by the lunar resonator  
  
The two crashed into the ground. “That’s enough.” Ryo raised his voice slightly.  
  
“CMI135 – Infinite Railgun  
GST023 – Air Rake  
GHK134 – Trench Pressure  
LVL136 – Fire Ceiling  
LNR197 – Void out  
SLR196 – Evaporated Radiance  
ABZ471 – Absolute Zero - Full access.”  
  
“Did he just-?!”  
“-give them Rubato on all their spells!?” Colette and Rebecca gasped out. Vail proved this point by immediately dropping a fire ceiling on her targets.  
  
Whistler blasted Blakki away with a Trench Pressure. “Luce Lunare, Fortissimo!” An orb of lunar energy was fired at Whistler, who absorbed it with a Void Out. Taking the rhythm in, she converted it into an Air Rake, wildly spraying the whole battlefield with blades of air.  
  
“Riflettore Musicale, Piano Staccato!” Shouri cried out. From the flurry of Air Rakes several were returned. When the smoke cleared, Blakki stood in front of Shouri, her arms outstretched and a barrier of light slowly fading away.  
  
Rebecca and Vinci were hit by the spray of attacks, but as luck would have it, Vail was too. “Bitch!” Vail shouted back at her “teammate”  
  
Whistler looked down at her partner. “You have Teleport AND Absolute Zero in full access, it’s your fault you got-”  
  
BOOM!  
  
The artificial resonator was shut up by a Luce Lunare in Fortissimo. “Hey-!”  
  
BOOM!  
  
A second one sent the protesting resonator flying behind Ryo. Blakki charged their enemy. “Luce Lunare, Piano!” Shouri barked out, rushing behind his resonator. The fox girl reached back, forming the ball of lunar energy, she thrust it forward, intending to end the battle.  
  
However.  
  
“He… caught it?” Blakki’s eyes went wide as Ryo had hold of her wrist and his other hand had blocked the attack, fizzling it out entirely. “I believe Vienna told you I had no soul. That wasn’t an exaggeration.” He practically snarled at the resonator he had in his grasp. He closed his hand and went to thrust it into trapped resonator’s face. At that moment Shouri jumped over Blakki and threw his own punch, shattering Ryo’s sunglasses and sending him back into his own resonator.  
  
“You okay Blakki?”  
“Si… wasn't expecting that.”  
“Neither did I. Turns out Seven wasn’t just being poetic.”  
  
Ryo stood up, his shades falling off from being completely destroyed. “I’ll give you this: you’re not as helpless as before.” His silver eyes looked down at the duo that stood defiantly before him.  
  
“But still-”  
  
Shouri and Blakki felt a hand on their heads. Suddenly their surroundings shifted back to that tube; the same one that sent them to the other world. Ryo and Whistler appeared a couple seconds later. “I was sporting last time. I gave you a chance to live in your world, away from this one. And you not only return, but you dare fight me with that horrible power.” The man growled, having lost his patience with the defiant maestro and resonator.  
  
“Your next destination won’t be so hospitable.” He drew out his USB thumb stick he carried with him. Before he could insert it into the console, it flew from his hand, being completely crushed in the air.  
  
“What?” He turned to see Shouri and Blakki smirking. They did something? They shouldn’t have been able to because of the Vatonium; maybe they had another ally hiding somewhere? Either way it didn’t matter, Ryo Saitou was always prepared.  
  
“Whistler.”  
“On it master!”  
  
Whistler vanished into the machine through the USB port that was originally meant for the once uncrushed thumb drive. Ryo regained his composure, straightening his back as he looked down on his captives. “It was a valiant effort, but it’s over Mr. Tomoshibi.” He taunted with his usual cold, nearly robotic tone.  
  
“Is it though?”  
“Your bravado is an annoyance, but unfounded.”  
“It really isn’t.”  
  
Ryo wouldn’t let himself lose his temper again. Shouri Tomoshibi was annoying, yes, but he wasn’t in any position to do anything. Or at least that’s what Ryo thought. The resonator and maestro stood in the capsule, just chuckling to themselves. What made them so confident?  
  
Seconds ticked by, then minutes.  
  
“Whistler, report.” He muttered into the watch on his wrist.  
“M-master… They did something…” a crackled voice came from the watch. “… I-I’m trapped… it hurts so much…” her fading voice continued on as Ryo lowered his arm.  
  
The man looked up, glaring at his adversaries. “Turns out, if you keep break something while a resonator is using Cavo Scoperto, it hits them pretty hard.” Shouri shrugged. Objects began to fly from around the room, hitting the container. How were they doing that? Ryo pondered that, as rhythm-based attacks should have been stopped by the Vatonium cage. That’s when he caught sight of it: the girl’s hands glowing purple. All of the various pieces of scrap and metal being pulled towards the capsule were zeroing in on her hands.  
  
“Class skills. Found out you stole one of them to have your resonators go into electronics.” Shouri told the man. Ryo’s scowl deepened as the capsule began to crack under the pressure of the assault. One final impact shattered the tube, freeing the maestro and his resonator. Once more they rushed the suited man, Shouri’s hands glowing with yellow rhythm while Blakki grabbed several random objects from around her with her class skill to use. Ryo dodged Blakki’s part of the assault and allowed Shouri to hit him. The man skidded back, seemingly unhurt by the attack.  
  
Whistler emerged from one of the machines, worse for wear and absolutely livid. She unleashed a flurry of air blades directed at Blakki, which were quickly reflected with a Riflettore Musicale. “Luce Lunare, Rubato!” Shouri barked out while taking swings at Ryo with rhythm-soaked fists. The man wasn’t dodging, he was just taking the blows.  
  
Blakki meanwhile took control of her own power. She had to think about Luce Lunare in order to cast it, but she very rapidly realized she needed to maintain a very strict focus, since the Rubato modifier allowed her to pull as much rhythm from Shouri as she wanted. This wouldn’t have been a problem except Shouri was actively using his rhythm to fight Ryo as well.  
  
As a result, Blakki ended up using mostly her own rhythm in combination with physical objects in the room to fight. She rolled out of the way of a stream of watery energy and fired off several smaller pieces of scrap at Whistler. The artificial resonator turned to ice for a moment, allowing the shards of metal to harmlessly bounce off her hardened form. She sliced away the air, causing Blakki to drop to the ground At that moment, Whistler made a fire ceiling and crushed Blakki with the fire styled command. She nodded, satisfied the lunar resonator had been sufficiently dealt with, and turned to help her own master deal with the persistent Shouri.  
  
SHWICK!  
  
The artificial resonator’s eyes went wide as her head slowly dropped down to see a piece of scrap metal stuck out of her chest. “Huh…” She noticed the area around the wound was sparking, and that part of her body was slowly vanishing into the air.  
  
Thud THUD  
  
She fell to her knees and then onto the ground, laying there as she slowly began to evaporate into the air. Blakki panted tossing a sheet of metal she had shielded herself with away. The tips of her bangs had turned white from over exertion of her powers. The fox-girl couldn’t rest however, as the fight wasn’t over. Ryo was now on the offensive, attacking Shouri with just his bare fists. The younger boy was forced on the defensive, blocking each strike with his rhythm. Blakki could tell this was rapidly wearing on him as his hair was starting to go white.  
  
Grabbing a smaller piece of scrap metal Blakki physically threw it at Ryo. He deflected the attempt at an attack and turned his glare on Blakki. He rapidly approached the fox girl as Shouri fell to his knees in exhaustion. He winced in pain as he watched his resonator attempt to dodge using her still applied Passo Silenzioso, but Ryo punched her right out of her shadow form. It was at that point he saw something and it all clicked together.  
  
Everything made sense. The way Ryo fought, everything Seven had told him about herself and Ryo, even down to how Whistler had faded away. It was a gamble for sure, but it made sense in his head. He took in a deep breath, the remaining brown in his hair fading away as he thought of his command.  
  
“BLAKKI! LA BELLA VITA, LENTO TUTTI! HEAL RYO!”  
  
The girl didn’t know what to make of it, but her body moved to execute her maestro’s command. Just as his fist approached the girl once more, she thrust her palms out as they began to glow with a warm, healing light.  
  
“AAAUGH!”  
  
Ryo stepped back, hands on his head in agony. Like Whistler before him, his body was turning to light in an unnatural fashion. “Wh-what’s going on Sho…?” Blakki asked, falling to her knees in part shock, part exhaustion.  
  
The white-haired boy limped over to his partner, keeping his eyes on the disintegrating man. The maestro slumped over next to his partner. “I dunno exactly how it works, but in some games I remember playing as a kid, if you healed undead enemies it damaged them instead.” He panted hard in a vain attempt to catch his breath. “He was absorbing rhythm, so I figured if we overloaded him with “life” maybe it’d like make him explode.” The maestro glanced over at his fading enemy. He didn’t speak, nor bellow out in anger. It appeared Ryo Saitou would let his form vanish in silence.  
  
“It’s not an explosion, but it worked I think.”  
  
As the last sparkle of light that was once their enemy faded away Shouri rose to his feet. He held out his hand for his partner. With a tired smile, she grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. They limped over to the elevator, which opened instantly. The pair entered, Blakki pressing her back against the wall and sliding to the ground. The maestro pressed the button for the first floor and hobbled over to his partner.  
  
Shouri slumped next to Blakki at the back of the elevator just as the door closed. “We did it.” The resonator sighed, closing her eyes. “I really have to wonder… if they were really alive.” Shouri pondered aloud as the elevator began its slow descent to the first floor. Blakki opened her eyes and looked to her maestro.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
“Rhythm is something all living things have right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“If Ryo didn’t have any rhythm, was he actually alive?”  
“…”  
“Did we just commit murder?”  
  
A silence fell on the descending cabin. “He tried to kill us first.” Blakki pointed out slowly. “It was self-defense.” She stated adamantly as she stiffened. He looked over at her, she stared at the ground her eyes unmoving, as if frozen in place.  
  
The sound of the humming elevator was the only thing that guided the pair back down to earth.  
  
With a ding the door opened to their friends waiting in the lobby.  
  
“Shouri! Blakki!”


	57. Chapter 57

“It started two weeks ago with an omen.”  
“Our connection with the other side was severed. It was only for a moment, but we feared the worst.”  
“I’m afraid that it’s begun again.”  
“The rebellion.”  
  
\---  
  
Shouri Tomoshibi was at his desk with a very old looking book opened. A couple of days passed since their climactic final battle with Ryo Saitou. Things had calmed down significantly. Given they had destroyed most of the machinery that the man had used to send them to the other side in the first place, One Main Street was a useless building to them.  
  
Colette Severine walked into the room, once again eating some of Shouri’s food. Given they were stranded on this side now, she had taken up residence with Rebecca at Renoir’s Apparel. This didn’t stop her from coming over to the Tomoshibi household specifically to steal their food. “What’s that?” Colette asked, munching away on a toaster pastry.  
  
“Sahji gave me this book before. Didn’t get too far in it before getting zapped across the uni-” As he looked up he caught sight of what Colette had in her hands. “-Damn it Colette! Is that the smores one?!” He barked.  
  
“Yeah? It’s pretty good.”  
“I SPECIFICALLY hid those from you!”  
“That explains why they were on top of the cabinets rather than in the pantry.”  
“And you DIDN’T think that was weird?”  
“I dunno how shit works here!”  
  
Blakki looked up from Shouri’s phone, watching the pair of maestros argue, it wasn’t uncommon for their conversations to devolve into screaming contests. She chuckled a bit to herself; it was nice to have friends. The vixen returned to the story she was reading while the pair continued to cause a domestic disturbance.  
  
“Anyways, what’s the deal with the book?” Colette asked, having polished off the pastry during their previous dispute. The boy grumbled and turned back to the tome in question.  
  
“It’s about ethereals from your world. It’s written in… I think he called it “rhythm script”? Yeah that’s it.” The boy told her.  
  
The rhythm major walked over to the desk and looked over the book. She held out her hand feeling the rhythm radiating from the pages. “Oh yeah, this is definitely rhythm script.” She nodded. “You still haven’t taken us to see Sahji.” The red-haired maestro noted.  
  
“If you really want to stab yourself with his dumb sword, I’ll take you tomorrow.” He waved her off, returning to the passage he was reading. He moved his index finger across the page, much like how one would read braille.  
  
“What’s it say?” Colette asked.  
  
He turned his chair to her and propped up a foot on his knee, leaning back slightly. “This chapter is about some trio called the “Noble Swords” or something. I guess they represent rebellion and change in your world?”  
  
Colette nodded. “Yeah. Armando, Artemis, and Isaac, it’s said that they gave resonators the “swords” they needed to fight oppression. In less poetic terms, they’re the ones who made the attribute triangle.”  
  
“They made it?” Shouri questioned.  
“Yeah, before the Noble Swords, most resonators were Null, attributes weren’t a thing. The three Noble Swords each led an army, and molded their troops magic to match their own. So any resonator with Slashing, Crushing, or Piercing magic has a soldier that fought in that war in their bloodline somewhere.” Colette explained.  
  
“Interesting how training ended up getting passed down bloodlines.” Shouri hummed in thought. “From what I’ve heard, there used to be a stigma about null attribute resonators, but that’s mostly faded in the modern era.” The red-haired maestro added.  
  
Shouri’s gaze shifted back to the ancient book on his desk. “Too bad they can’t forget about some other stigmas.” He grumbled bitterly.  
  
Colette’s gaze fell, recalling how Shouri and Blakki were treated in her hometown. There were a few glances and bits of muttering in New Draxgow that she recalled, but they were so pre-occupied with Lina showing up that Shouri and Blakki didn’t have time to notice it happening. “A-anyways! They’re some of the older ethereals, they don’t mesh well with the modern era, so nobody’s heard from them in hundreds of years!” She spoke up, in an attempt to distract from Shouri’s grumbling.  
  
“There’s tons of old heroes and nation-builders in here. So if you’re someone relevant you just get immortality?”  
“From what we know, yeah. But ethereals never talk about it even when asked, so some scholars are skeptical. Even the sages dance around the issue, but modern scholars know better than to try and probe the sages for useful information.”  
  
“Glad to know they’re useless in your world too.” Shouri chuckled.  
  
\---  
  
“Luce Lunare, Piano!”  
  
Blakki tossed a ball of lunar energy at a fleeing scherzando, instantly vaporizing it. “Bored.” Shouri sighed. “Don’t tempt fate, amore mio.” Blakki laughed nervously.  
  
The maestro shrugged, pulling out his phone. “Urgh, 1:30AM. There’s probably more around. They don’t get too feisty until about two.” He grumbled. At that moment, Sonia’s number popped on the screen. “Huh?” He answered the incoming call.  
  
“What’s up?”  
“Rebecca’s freaking out, can you get down here?”  
“Is she okay?”  
“Yeah, she just started saying something about needing to go. It’s super weird. We’re by the old grocery store on 20th.”  
“Headin’ your way.”  
“Thanks.”  
  
Shouri looked to his partner who frowned. “I wonder what’s going on with Rebecca.” Her ears folded back as her brows turned up in concern. “Dunno, let’s get over there, it’s like a fifteen-minute walk from here.”  
  
The pair began their trek to where their friends were. They walked in silence for a little bit “I’m kinda hungry.” Blakki spoke up. “Maybe we can stop somewhere on the way.” Shouri shrugged, pulling out his phone. They stopped by a local burger place that was open way too late for the amount of business they got and picked up a bunch of their cheaper burgers. About thirty minutes later, they finally arrived at the grocery store they agreed to meet at.  
  
“We brought food.” Shouri said immediately, holding up a well-worn paper bag. The rest of the group wouldn’t argue with free food and began tearing into the cheap sandwiches they were provided. “So what’s going on Rebecca?” Shouri asked.  
  
“I dunno. It’s weird… like-” She looked to the east. “-every time I use my powers, I get this unbelievable pull on them, like I want to go that way.” She pointed towards the mountain ranges that bordered the small town.  
  
Colette swallowed the bit of burger she had eaten and spoke up. “What’s even that way anyways?”  
  
“Some mountains. Nothing too terribly interesting.” Shouri replied.  
“Does it feel like a big scherzando is there or something?” Blakki asked for clarification on this mysterious draw.  
Rebecca shook her head. She frowned, trying to figure out a way to describe it. “It’s like my body is being pulled towards it, but not physically? Maybe my essence? My rhythm perhaps?” The fire resonator folded her arms across her chest. “It’s hard to describe.”  
  
“Vinci, Blakki, do you feel anything?” Shouri looked to the other two resonators.  
  
“Nope.”  
“Nothin’”  
  
Shouri snapped his fingers and pointed to Sonia and Vinci. “Use Lanciafiamme.” He suggested. The null maestro and resonator looked to each other and shrugged.  
  
“Lanciafiamme, Pianissimo!” Sonia commanded. Vinci drew his hands back and unleashed a thin blade of fire into the air, his eyes went wide when using the spell. “That… was weird.” He muttered. “What did it feel like?” Rebecca asked, hoping for validation.  
  
The younger resonator hummed in thought. “It was like I was being pulled towards those mountains. It was strange.” He replied after thinking it over.  
  
“So what do we do?” Colette asked.  
  
Shouri chuckled, causing the others to look to him. “A mystery with a no doubt convoluted explanation?” He smirked. “I know exactly where we’re going.”  
  
SLAM  
  
Shouri kicked open the door to Sahji’s Psychic Consultation Service. “Sahji! Get out here! We have questions and I know you’ve got answers!!” The boy barked, allowing the group of five behind him into the building. Colette and Rebecca looked around in part curiosity, part awe. Lanvi’s store front was full of greenery and had that pleasant earthy scent. Sahji’s shop however was dimly lit and had the distinct scent of tea, but it was a psychic consultation service according to the sign?  
  
There was shuffling in the back, and after a moment the curtains parted. “Shouri… do you have any idea what-” The owner of the voice paused, immediately catching the two unfamiliar faces in his sight. “-time it is…” His eyes narrowed. “Shouri Tomoshibi… what the FUCK did you do?!”  
  
Colette and Rebecca stared at the boy in question. He was a touch bit shorter than even either of them, short blonde hair and a bright yellow scarf. His robes seemingly shimmered in the dim light and they could make out what seemed to be shooting star patterns. Also, the weird paper earrings the boy wore.  
  
Shouri ignored the boy and turned to Colette and Rebecca. “This is Sahji, the Wish Sage.” He turned to the sage in question. “This is-“  
  
“Rebecca and Colette Severine. I know. Why are they in THIS world?!” The sage glared at the group.  
  
“Turns out the people on the other side are assholes, so my ex-girlfriend punched a hole in reality to help us escape.” Shouri summarized. “Anyways, when using fire spells they’re freaking out.” The boy pointed to Vinci and Rebecca. “Why?”  
  
“Define freaking out.”  
“They said they’re being pulled towards the eastern mountains.” Shouri looked to the the two resonators in question who nodded quickly.  
Sahji’s expression hardened. “Just fire? No other elements?”  
“Just fire.” The maestro confirmed.  
  
The sage sighed. “Damn it all.” He fell back, sitting on his table. After a moment of silence he raised a hand; snapping his fingers, the three maestro’s tuners appeared in his hands.  
  
“Hey!” They all collectively shouted at the sudden disappearance of the devices.  
  
The sage looked through each one. “Hmmm…” He seemed to take extra time on Shouri’s. After a moment he looked up at Blakki. “You’re the most whipped dog I’ve ever met; really Blakki?” Rebecca and Colette gasped at the slur dropped so casually by the nearly god-like figure before them.  
  
Suddenly, the tuner was ripped out of Sahji’s hand, Blakki catching it. Her eyes glowed a blazing blue as the wisps of purple energy faded away. “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all, stronzino.” The girl grinned toothily, tossing the tuner back to her maestro, who snatched it out of the air.  
  
Sahji chuckled, then burst out into a roar of laughter. “I hope you know, my opinion of you hasn’t changed one bit Blakki. No matter what situation you two are in, you’re always give me an interesting story.” Tossing the other two tuners into the air, they appeared at their owner’s sides. “At any rate, you’re probably the best equipped to handle this.”  
  
“Handle _what_ exactly?” Shouri narrowed his eyes, folding his arms across his chest.  
  
“Why to assemble to Orchestra of Heaven.” 


	58. Chapter 58

_“Seven instruments said to be used by Cievo to shape the universe.”  
“Banished to a rift between the worlds, your repeated back and forth trips broke them free.”  
“We can count our blessings that they landed on this side, nobody will even be aware they’re here.”  
“The Blaze Lyre seems to have landed on Mt. Shasta from what you’ve told me. Please collect it and bring it back here and we can use it to locate the other six.”  
_  
The group of six stood at the base of Mt. Shasta. Each member of their party had a large bag on their back. There was another climbing group nearby talking excitedly among themselves about ascending the mountain in question. “Is it me, or does it feel a bit warmer than usual?” Sonia asked, adjusting the bag on her back  
  
“Dunno, never been here before.” Shouri replied.  
“It feels GREAT.” Rebecca commented.  
“We should probably get started; this thing looks big.” Colette advised, walking ahead of the group. With daylight burning the rest of the group decided to follow.  
  
The group walked for a bit, but given the size of the task at hand it didn’t feel like they were making any progress. “This is the right place, right?” Sonia asked looking up at the imposing mountain in front of them.  
Shouri glanced over at his fellow maestro. “Why are you asking me? You’re the one that can check.” He pointed out.  
  
Looking around, there weren’t any other climbers. Sonia placed her hand on her tuner at her hip. “Vinci, Lanciafiamme, Pianissimo.” She told her resonator. The dog-boy nodded and slashed at a nearby rock, his eyes going wide as he came to a stop. He trembled a bit, barely managing to keep himself standing.  
  
“This is it.” Vinci muttered, adjusting his hat and regaining his composure.   
  
Blakki frowned. She didn’t know how the other resonators felt, but it wasn’t a pleasant feeling from what they were saying. “How long do you think this is gonna take?” Blakki asked, trying to take her mind off of her concern.  
  
“Hoping for two to three days. That’s how much food we have. As long as Sonia has rhythm we have a source of fresh water too.” Shouri pointed out. “Man having resonators around really helps lighten the load.” He noted. “Thank you.” He said to the animal-eared trio.  
  
“You’re welcome?”  
“You’re welcome.”  
“Ci mancherebbe altro; amore mio!”  
  
The other two resonators looked to their lunar companion. “Oh god, we’re gonna have to put up with them being all lovey-dovey all over each other.” Rebecca groaned quietly to Vinci.  
“At least they brought their own tent.” He commented back.  
  
“Speaking of…” Sonia glanced over at Shouri and Blakki who were ahead of the group. “Are you two… official?” She asked.  
  
“Yeah.”  
“Si!”  
  
Sonia blinked, almost expecting them to dance around it. Nevertheless, she smiled. “Congratulations! I’m happy for you both!” Blakki giggled and blushed a bit, focusing back forward. Shouri shook his head but smiled. Colette, however, looked a bit uncomfortable with that. “S-so you mean-” Shouri and Blakki cut her off:  
  
“Blakki’s my girlfriend.”  
“Sho’s my boyfriend.”  
  
They spoke in a strange almost perfect unison, still focused forward towards their destination. Colette looked troubled. “That’s just weird…” She muttered.  
  
“What’s weird?” Sonia asked.  
“Ah! Uhh…” She put some space between their group of four and the leading pair before speaking her mind.   
  
“Dating your resonator, it’s just-”  
“Wrong?”  
  
Colette looked up. Rebecca had said that. The vixen’s ears were folded back, her glare bitter, practically on the verge of tears. “Do you even see how happy she’s been? How dare you.” The fire resonator turned and stomped ahead, her tears finally streaming down her cheeks as her head turned.  
  
“You’ve taught us a bit about your world. But what are resonators to you people?” Sonia asked.  
“They’re our partners!” Colette barked, as if it should have been obvious.  
“I understand.” Vinci nodded.  
  
The fire maestro stared at the null resonator. “Wh-what does that mean?”  
  
“We’re not like Shouri and Blakki. Vinci is more of a little brother or even a business partner to me. Amika and Pacifica were like best friends, they were always laughing together.” Sonia explained. “Shoot even that Faith girl and her resonator seemed to have good rapport.” Vinci pointed out. The seamstress nodded in agreement. After a moment she spoke once more. “Then there’s Shouri and Blakki…” Sonia smiled, seeing them in the distance. “They’re just a couple of idiots.”  
  
“Eh…?” Colette tilted her head slowly.  
  
Sonia closed her eyes. “Whenever they’re around, I can feel them pulling towards each other. Blakki will fight until she’s bloody, bruised, and barely standing, and Shouri will kill himself trying to protect her. They’re obsessed with one another.”  
  
“What does Rebecca mean to you?” Sonia asked.  
“She’s my resonator! I’ve had her since I was a kid!” Colette barked. “I wouldn’t trade her for anyone else!”  
“Yep, totally understand now.” Vinci nodded.  
“Me too.” Sonia smiled to her own resonator.  
“What?” Colette stepped back from the pair.  
  
“I feel sorry for Rebecca.” Sonia and Vinci turned and walked away. “W-wait!” Colette shouted, reaching out as the other pair left her alone. Her arm dropped to her side as she hung her head in shame.  
  
“I don’t get it…”  
  
At that moment, her rhythm flared up. As if guided by the blazing ethereal energy, a memory played in her head.  
  
 _“What’s going on Rebecca?”  
“You make me mad.”  
“Why? What did I do?!”  
“You do this thing whenever we talk. First you introduce me.”  
“B-but-”  
“Secondly you never consult me for anything.”  
“That’s-“  
“Third you always cut me off when we’re talking to other people.”  
“I-”  
“Fourth you just plain don’t trust me.”  
“THAT’S NOT TRUE!”  
  
“I-I trust you with my life Rebecca. I cherish and value everything you have to say!”  
“You sure as hell don’t show it.”  
“I-I’m sorry… I’ll get better…”_  
  
She stared at her hands glowing with bright yellow rhythm. She had thought she was doing so well… but nobody else saw it. “I don’t understand…” She whimpered pathetically.  
  
\---  
  
“I think this is a good place to stop for the night.”  
  
They had made it a good chunk of the way up the mountain. They were at a small ridge with an outcropping over them. “It’s pretty calm up here.” Sonia noted, setting her own bag down to start setting up their base camp. The rest of the group similarly shed their own bags and broke off to do their own thing.  
  
“We’ve climbed so high up already.” Blakki looked out, seeing the progress they had made so far. Shouri walked up beside her, looking out at the setting sun. “I wouldn’t have been able to make it up this far before I met you.” He commented.  
  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She smirked coyly.  
“You’re a hell of an exercise coach.” He chuckled.  
  
“Hey lovebirds! Enough flirt more tent!” Sonia shouted. The lovebirds in question looked to each other for a moment, and with a laugh and shrug, they walked back over to set up their own tent. While Shouri and Blakki set up their lodging for the night, Sonia and Vinci were working on getting a small campfire started.  
  
“Vinci, Lan-”  
“Wait!”  
  
Rebecca rushed up before Sonia could finish reciting their fire spell. “Let me do it. You guys have been filling the water bottles all afternoon.” The fire-fox insisted. The pair looked around; Colette was nowhere to be found. “Relax, I got this.” She ignited her heels and flipped in place. The log remained unburned. “Ah. I missed.” The vixen frowned. A few more flips and the log was singed, but remained unlit. “Come on you stupid thing.” She grumbled.  
  
“Maybe just stand next to it.” Sonia suggested.  
“But it’s not as cool.” Rebecca pouted.  
“But also, you burn your heels with that skill, I doubt you want to limp your way up the rest of this mountain” Sonia countered.  
  
Rebecca huffed and folded her arms across her chest as she intensified the fire at her feet way more than needed to light the log. With this over-exertion of her skill, a hearty fire began to burn. “Uhg.” She stepped away from the new campfire holding her head. “Maybe that wasn’t a good idea.” She muttered.  
  
“Sit down and eat something, your tips are white.” Vinci guided Rebecca over to a nearby rock and sat her down. He reached into his own bag and pulled out an apple. “Eat this.”  
  
“What is this thing?” Rebecca asked, accepting the fruit regardless.  
“It’s an apple. You don’t have them on the other side?” Vinci raised an eyebrow.  
“Never seen one before.”  
  
Regardless, the vixen bit into the fruit, taking a chunk out of it. Vinci’s eyes widened as he watched the previously whitened hair instantly become vibrant again. “Wow! What is this thing? I feel totally better!” Rebecca exclaimed. “Hang on! I wanna try something!” She set the apple down on the rock she had been sitting on and bolted into the sky with a burst of fire under her.  
  
“Where is she going?” Sonia asked, walking over after watching Rebecca take flight.  
“She ate an apple and it looked like it restored her rhythm.” Vinci frowned.  
“That’s a thing?” Sonia raised an eyebrow.  
  
Shouri and Blakki walked over, also having witnessed the Rebecca rocket ascend from the mountainside. “What’s with her?”  
  
“Experimenting I guess.”  
“With what?”  
“Apples.”  
  
Shouri nodded slowly. “Uh-huh…”  
  
Rebecca finally came back down, notably, nearly all of her hair was white now. “Ok, burnt quite a bit of rhythm.” Picking back up the apple, she quickly consumed the rest of it. Her hair began to fade back in much quicker than if she let it come back naturally, but most of it was still white. “Dang, was hoping more of it would come back.” She frowned, holding out her ashy locks. “Mind if I top you off?” Shouri asked. “That’s fine.” Rebecca nodded.  
  
A quick pass of rhythm later and Rebecca’s fiery red hair was restored to its former glory. “These apple things are still pretty cool though; I’ve never eaten a fruit that just straight up gives you back rhythm.” She told the rest of the group.  
  
“Honestly, I didn’t even know apples could do that.” Shouri commented, holding the only other apple they had brought along. “We’ve never eaten apples after a fight, so I guess it makes sense that we wouldn’t have found that.” Blakki noted, looking over the innocuous red fruit. “It looked like it was about a quarter of Rebecca’s total rhythm? Hard to tell without the tuner present.” Sonia added.  
  
“Eating an apple mid-fight is probably not on the table, but in between fights wouldn’t be bad, or if we’re in a situation like right now.” Shouri pondered aloud. “I wonder if its different kinds of apples or just apples in general. Can you cook a bunch of apples and make like a super potion?” He began to wander away from the group, thinking about it. Blakki chuckled to herself. “Need to keep an eye on him in case he falls down the side of the mountain, excuse me.” The lunar resonator pardoned herself to corral her maestro back towards the base camp.   
  
\---  
  
That night.  
  
Colette tended to the fire on her own. Thoughts of Rebecca and their situation swirled in her mind. To top it off, Rebecca wasn’t even sleeping in their tent, she had decided to sleep in Sonia and Vinci’s tent.  
  
Speaking of Sonia, the Null maestro walked over and sat next to Colette. “Hey.”  
  
Colette stared at the fire for a moment before acknowledging her fellow maestro. “Hey.” She replied quietly.  
  
“I understand what’s going on between you two.” Sonia said suddenly. Colette whipped her head over. The fellow red-head stared at the fire with a warm smile. “She’s jealous.”  
  
“J-jealous? Of what?” Colette asked.  
  
“Us, Vinci and Blakki. She sees what they have here and can’t understand why she can’t have what they have.” Sonia spoke softly as the fire cackled in front of the pair.  
  
Colette digested those words. “Jealous? What would she be jealous of?”  
  
The two maestros sat in silence for a spell before Sonia spoke up once more. “Rebecca doesn’t know how to express her feelings properly. You’re gonna have to figure it out together.”  
  
The foreign maestro hummed in thought, unsure of what to say or do. “She cried.” Sonia spoke up suddenly. “She cried into Vinci and me. She tried to be as quiet as she could, but Blakki and Shouri came over wondering what was going on.” Colette stared at the other maestro; her mouth slightly agape at what she was hearing. “She cried for so long. I didn’t really know what to say to her. That poor girl is hurting so badly.”  
  
Colette gritted her teeth, tears starting to build up. Sonia stood up, dusting herself off. “I’ve said my piece.” She looked down to the other girl. “Goodnight Colette.”  
  
And with that Colette Severine was left alone with her thoughts and her tears. 


	59. Chapter 59

Rebecca emerged from Sonia’s tent a little bit before sunrise. She hadn’t slept much, trapped in her own thoughts. Looking around, it seemed someone had put out their fire from the night before. With a sigh, she walked over to the tent she was originally intended to sleep in. She stared at the tent for a moment before reaching down and grabbing the zipper. There was a moment of hesitation before she pulled it open.  
  
“WAKE UP!”  
  
Blakki and Vinci emerged from their respective tents first, followed by their maestros. Rebecca was already pacing around their base camp. “Colette!?”  
  
“What’s going on?” Blakki asked groggily. The fire resonator turned to her lunar counterpart. “Colette is missing!”  
  
Shouri yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “You sure she isn’t using the bathroom somewhere?” He asked, not wanting to look around just in case he was right.  
  
“These big ears aren’t for show! Here she ain’t!” Rebecca practically screeched at Shouri while holding her ears up by their tips.  
  
The boy just stared back at the hysterical fox-girl. He yawned and went back into his tent.  
  
“What am I gonna do? She’s gone! I shouldn’t have yelled at her!” Rebecca panicked to herself. Sonia walked over, stretched her hands, cracked her knuckles, then placed a hand on Rebecca’s shoulder. “Eh?”  
  
SMACK  
  
“Wh-” The fire resonator held her red cheek for a moment, in shock at being smacked suddenly. When the confusion wore off, her expression morphed into a glare. “What the hell was that for?!” She barked.  
  
“You need to calm down. First off, panicking isn’t going to help. Second off, don’t immediately run back into her arms.” Sonia said calmly and evenly. “B-but-!”  
  
“What if she did this on purpose to get this kind of reaction out of you?” The maestro suggested.  
  
Rebecca looked down. It did seem a little too convenient.  
  
“I doubt that’s the case.” Shouri said walking over to the drama club. He held out Rebecca’s red tuner. The resonator shakily accepted the device, staring at her own vitals before turning her gaze towards the male maestro. “Where did you find it?”  
  
“It was in your tent. She probably left it there so I wouldn’t be able to track her.” Shouri replied.  
“These things have GPS?” Sonia asked, looking at her own clear bodied tuner.  
“Rose re-enabled the tracking function for me. I’ve got you, Colette, and Amika registered, just in case.” He told his fellow maestro.  
“Weird that’s not a standard function, but useful to know.”  
  
Sonia looked towards the peak ahead of them. “It looks like a half days climb up there. We could probably get up there by noon.” The null maestro hummed in thought. “B-but Colette…” Rebecca whimpered. She lowered her head in shame. “I-I didn’t mean to chase her away, I just wanted her to understand.” The fox-girl squeaked quietly.  
  
“Well I doubt she went up the mountain, so let’s pack up and start looking around for her.” Shouri suggested. With that the group began to dismantle their tents. Rebecca was especially in a tizzy, unable to calm her racing heart. It took less than a half an hour for the whole camp to be disassembled and put away, thanks in part to the aforementioned fire resonator darting about and rushing everyone along.  
  
“Ok, let’s head back down. If we don’t find her on the way we can call the cops or something and they can start looking for her.” Shouri told the group. Hesitantly, the two pairs began their descent. Rebecca stayed in place however. Something just felt off about their decision. She shook her head, and attempted to ignore it, but as she began stepping towards the descending group, her ears poked straight up.  
  
“Colette?!”  
  
The remaining majority of the group stopped, looking back at Rebecca. She was facing the peak of the mountain, tail swishing back and forth rapidly. “Colette?!” She repeated before igniting her heels and taking off up the mountain.  
  
“What the hell?!” Shouri barked, breaking into a sprint after the rapidly ascending resonator. The rest of group followed his lead, rushing back up the mountain. “Blakki! Grab her!” He shouted back at his own resonator.  
  
“Ci penso io!” The lunar resonator shed her own bag, darting ahead of the encumbered group. Using her class skill, she yanked Rebecca out of the sky. While Blakki was still in “predator mode” she tackled the other vixen to the ground holding her there. Many colorful obscenities were expelled by the struggling fire fox.  
  
By the time the rest of the group caught up to the pair of foxes, Rebecca had worn herself out and panted hard in an attempt to catch her breath. “You mind telling us what’s going on?” Sonia asked.  
  
“She’s up there! I can feel it!” Rebecca managed to get out. Her hair was half white from her attempted flight up the mountain and fighting against Blakki’s telekinesis. The lunar resonator eased her grip around her fire counterpart taking pity on her. She didn’t immediately break away from Blakki’s weakened grasp, but instead lowered her head. “I know she’s there.” Rebecca spoke quieter.  
  
“Here.” Rebecca looked up to see Vinci holding out an apple for her. “This should top you off.”  
  
“But why?” She asked, accepting the fruit regardless.  
“I don’t think anyone wants to drag your comatose body up the rest of the mountain.” He replied.  
  
After Rebecca consumed the apple, she was back at full strength again. “So just to be clear, you feel she’s continued climbing the mountain?” Shouri asked. Rebecca nodded slowly. The maestro shrugged. “Good enough for me, let’s keep going.” And with that Shouri and Blakki continued up the mountain.  
  
“They were just looking for an excuse to continue climbing, I swear.” Sonia sighed, shaking her head. “You alright?” She asked Rebecca.  
  
“Worried.” The resonator replied.  
“I swear if Colette doesn’t change her tune after all this, I’m gonna smack the shit out of her too.” Sonia huffed. “Come on, let’s keep going before we lose Shouri and Blakki too.”  
  
\---  
  
The group continued their ascent, the temperature dropping as they climbed. There was a thick fog that had gathered around the top of the mountain preventing them from seeing what awaited them at their destination. However, there was something odd that made itself apparent as they drew closer and closer to their goal.  
  
“This is weird.” Shouri suddenly spoke up.  
“What’s that?” Rebecca asked, having taken the lead.  
“I know this mountain is usually covered in snow, but we’re nearing the top and I don’t see a trace of it anywhere.” The boy frowned.  
“Yeah, that is strange.” Sonia noted. “Especially with this fog, you’d think we’d have some kind of snow or at least rain.”  
  
The group fell to silence once more. It wouldn’t be too much longer before they reached the peak, but despite that Rebecca couldn’t calm her racing heart. She felt like there was something horribly wrong. Then she heard a voice:  
  
“Albero Robusto, Fortissimo!”  
  
The vixen just moved, she knew exactly what she had to do. Jumping into the air, she ignited her heels and took off just in time to catch Colette, covered in various cuts and scrapes, her form wrapped around a small red object. The object in question was a small hand held harp, stylized like a ball of fire. “R-rebecca..?” Colette asked wearily  
  
“I gotcha.” The vixen smiled, lowering them to the ground. “What’s going on?”  
  
“I got to the Blaze Lyre, but as soon as I picked it up these guys showed up and attacked me…” She muttered.  
  
“Rullante di radice!” Vines broke out of the ground and ensnared Rebecca and Colette. “Tch! Show yourself!” Rebecca barked, refusing to release her maestro despite the vines that bound them.  
  
Two men stepped into her vision: one small, thin male, with a large hulking man next to him. The larger man had small fuzzy circular ears, his massive form seeming all that much larger next to his smaller counterpart.  
  
“Well well well; the thief has an accomplice.” The smaller man spoke.  
“Thief? The fuck you talking about?!” Rebecca barked.  
  
“That Blaze Lyre you have there doesn’t belong to this world. Hand it over.” He demanded.  
  
Rebecca’s glare only sharpened as she bared her teeth. “And who the fuck are you? I don’t see your name written on it!”  
  
“The name’s Sera, and this cuddly little bear is my partner Saul.” The man chuckled. “Though he ain’t so cuddly right now.”  
  
Rebecca looked down at Colette, her eyes were closed tight, as she maintained her vice grip around the Blaze Lyre.  
  
“Colette you gotta give me a command.”  
“I don’t have my tuner.”  
“It’s in my pocket, just give me something.”  
  
Sera shook his head at the two girls muttering to themselves. He tapped his resonator’s back twice and gave his command: “Foglie a Lame, Forte!” A flurry of bladed leaves formed around the bear man and flew at the trapped girls.  
  
“Anello di Fuoco, Mosso!”  
  
A wall of fire engulfed both the girls as well as the leaves and vines that had been previously cast. Just as the flames faded away, the remainder of the party broke through the thick fog surrounding the mountaintop.  
  
“Who the fuck are you?” Shouri immediately blurted out.  
  
“Oh? You had more friends? By the way you rushed up here alone I figured you were just a hiker way over her head.” Sera chuckled. “Hey boss, there’s a lot of them there.” Saul helpfully pointed out.  
  
“Quite big guy. I think we need to even the score a bit.” Sera cracked his knuckles, glaring down his opponents.  
  
“Artemis Arktoi, Ultrisimmo!”  
  
Upon declaration, five trees sprouted around the outnumbered pair, rapidly morphing into bears made of wood. Despite their plant-based nature, they moved like the genuine article, presently forming a small circle around their summoner.  
  
“The fuck? I thought the Nature ultimate was that tree!” Shouri barked at the decidedly different spell.  
  
“That’s the nature support ultimate. Depending on how you battle with your resonator you can get a support ultimate, or an attack ultimate.” Colette gulped and gritted her teeth, wearily glaring down their adversaries. “Artemis Arktoi is a nasty one though.”  
  
Shouri grumbled something about changing the rules under his breath before motioning towards Colette. “Blakki, La bella vita, Tutti moderato.” The lunar resonator nodded and held out her hands, the healing light washing over Colette and Rebecca. The fire resonator let her maestro down and unpocketed her tuner. She stared at it pensively before holding it out for Colette. “I… am your sword.” She said quietly.  
  
Colette wrapped her hands around Rebecca’s hand. “No you’re not; You’re my friend.” Colette smiled back. Rebecca simply stared, blushing slightly. “I-I see…”  
  
“Alright Saul, one on the lunar, two on the null, the rest of us on the fire.”  
“You got it boss!”  
  
The bears immediately split off going towards their targets, while Saul himself ran behind them to attack Rebecca and Colette.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte!”  
“Lanciafiamme, Forte!”  
“Bolide, Piano!”  
  
Blakki, Vinci, and Rebecca launched their attacks into their respective foes. However, while the wooden bears did take damage, their attacks only got more intense.  
  
“Shit what?!” Shouri barked as the bear assigned to them swatted at Blakki. The force of the mere swing threw her back into her maestro. “La Bella Vita, Allegro.” Shouri groaned. Before Blakki could cast her healing spell, she grabbed her maestro and launched them down a small cliff side with her class skill, barely dodging a wooden bear claw. However, in her panic, she put a bit too much force into her dodge and the pair tumbled quite a bit down the mountain and out of the fight for now.  
  
“Saul, re-direct that one over here!”  
“Yes boss!”  
  
A third wooden bear joined the assault against Rebecca and Colette.  
  
“Bolide, Piano!”  
“Bolide, Piano!”  
“Bolide, Piano!”  
“Bolide, Piano!”  
  
All Colette could do was continuously scream the advanced fire spell to keep the bears at bay. However, it seemed like the more she hit them the faster and more ferocious they got.  
  
“Vinci!” Colette turned her attention in the direction of Sonia’s cry. Vinci flew back from one of the bears ramming into him. He skidded to a halt in front of Sonia, coughing after being winded from the assault. “Next order!” he barked quickly as the two bears assigned to him began their assault anew.  
  
“Colette!” Rebecca shouted, kicking one of the bears away with her class skill. “Hurry!”  
  
Colette closed her eyes clutching the Blaze Lyre tightly, lowering her head and trembling in fear. Why was this happening? What could she do?  
  
 _“You just plain don’t trust me.”  
“She’s jealous”  
“Rebecca doesn’t know how to express her feelings properly. You’re gonna have to figure it out together.”_  
  
A smile crept on her face as she started chuckling a bit. “Duh… I AM an idiot huh?” She muttered. “Colette!” Rebecca screamed louder.  
  
Colette lifted her head with a confident glare. “Bolide, Rubato! Go wild Rebecca!”  
  
Without thinking about the ramifications of the Rubato modifier, Rebecca fired just over a dozen Forte-level Bolide. Colette winced in pain as she felt the massive amount of rhythm torn from her body. She quickly regained her composure, maintaining focus on the battlefield.  
  
The sudden barrage of fireballs kept the bears assigned to the fire pair at bay. “Something’s not right.” Sera muttered. “That was at least ten forte level spells off of a Rubato, when she was using Pianos before, she should be…” His gaze fell upon the Blaze Lyre in Colette’s arms, which seemed to have a fiery red glow…  
  
“Son of a bitch…” He gasped, coming to a grim realization. It was time for the all or nothing gambit. “SAUL! BACK ME UP BUDDY!” Sera roared, running straight at Colette. Rebecca heard the frenzied shout and directed several fire balls in the enemy maestro’s direction. “Foglie a Lame, Rubato! Albero Robusto, Rubato!” He barked  
  
“Keep the boss safe!” Saul gave a verbal command to his summons, which all began taking turns hopping in front of Rebecca’s successive assaults. Finally, Rebecca got a hit in on the maestro. This didn’t stop him, despite his singed body he tackled Colette to the ground, Rebecca rushed in after, however she was grabbed from behind by Saul who ejected the fire resonator from the battle. As she flew backwards Rebecca fired a Bolide at Saul, who was caught off guard by the attack and was thrown to the ground.  
  
In the interim, Colette attempted to fight off Sera for the Blaze Lyre. The two maestros battled for possession of the instrument in a tug of war while Saul kept Vinci and Sonia at bay with his two unlocked Rubato spells. Sera released the instrument for a moment, only so he could throw a punch at the maestro he had pinned. With one solid punch to the face Colette ceased resisting letting him pluck the instrument from its holder.  
  
Sera scrambled to his feet, attempting to make distance from the missile known as Rebecca. Once Colette had been knocked unconscious the flow of rhythm stopped, so all the fire resonator had was her class skill. The vixen prioritized reviving her maestro over the retreating Sera.  
  
Saul meanwhile had made a small wall of trees around Sonia and Vinci to cut them off from assisting Colette and Rebecca. Unfortunately, Vinci’s own fire spells were causing the summoned trees to rapidly deteriorate. By the time they broke free, Sera had made it back to his own resonator, Blaze Lyre in hand.  
  
“Artemis Arktoi, Ultrissimo! Dead or alive get them out of the boundary cloud!” Sera barked.   
  
This time there were eight bears summoned by the ultimate level spell. Two groups of four split off and immediately rushed their enemies.  
  
Shouri and Blakki ran back in to a gruesome sight. Colette and Rebecca desperately trying to fight through the wooden bears that were attacking them while sounds of Sonia screaming could be heard from a small pack of bears nearby.  
  
THUMP THUMP THUMP  
  
Time slowed to a crawl. In their ears they could hear each individual beat of their hearts. The fear permeating their forms, tears came to their eyes at the horrible sights and sounds as Colette took a claw to the chest, red liquid flowing freely into the air.  
  
What can I do?  
How is this winnable?  
How do I get them out of this situation?  
What is the solution?  
  
…  
…  
…  
  
…how… can I fix this…?  
  
 _“Your kind, caring soul seeks to soothe others through the rhythm it is provided.”_ Echoed in both Shouri and Blakki’s minds. What needed to be said came to the maestro’s lips as naturally as his own name:  
  
“Dominio degli angeli, Ultrissimo.”  
  
Blakki fell to her knees, closing her eyes and folding her hands, as if suddenly in prayer, and out from her form expanded an aura tinted blue enveloping the entire battlefield.  
  
Sonia opened her eyes, her face soaked in tears, Vinci covering her with his body. His eyes previously pouring tears of pain now were wide open, bewildered. “It… doesn’t hurt?” He asked. “Did I… die?” He breathed out.  
  
“You’re not dead Vinci… it doesn’t hurt though. What’s happening…?” The bears continued attacking, but each hit seemed to just make physical contact with Vinci, they didn’t even move the resonator. Getting up, they just ignored the bears attacking them and looked around. There was a warm light being cast from…  
  
“Blakki?” Sonia tilted her head. She slowly walked over, still completely disregarding the bears that were attacking her, like flies just bouncing off her. Colette and Rebecca similarly stood in place, absolutely flabbergasted.  
  
“What’s going on?” Sonia asked, hoping Colette would have some kind of idea.  
  
“I don’t know.” The fire maestro breathed out. She parted the bears and saw a similarly baffled, but panicked Sera.  
  
“You have GOT to be fucking KIDDING ME! You fucks have the HEALING ultimate?! Nobody’s gotten that in a hundred years!” He barked.  
  
Colette raised an eyebrow. “Healing?” She looked around and finally spotted Shouri and Blakki nearby, both kneeling on the ground, facing each other, heads down. Blakki’s hands were folded in front of her, as if in prayer, with Shouri’s hands wrapped around hers.  
  
“D-domino degli angeli… Any allies wounds are healed faster than instant speed.” Colette breathed out.  
  
“Beyond instant speed? What does that even mean?” Vinci asked, perplexed by the concept.  
  
“We’re still being hurt, but the damage is being undone in the past, so we never feel it or the effects.” Rebecca replied. “Even the force of the impact is negated.” Colette added. The maestro noted a small spot of white starting to slowly creep up both Shouri and Blakki’s hair. “But it can’t last long.” The maestro turned to their enemies. Saul stepped in the way of Sera.  
  
“The bears vanish if the resonator is attacked. Let’s get rid of him first.” Sonia explained, having watched this happen when Rebecca had attacked Saul previously.  
  
“The maestro is mine.” Colette growled. “Rebecca.” She looked to her resonator. “Bolide, Rubato.”  
The vixen chuckled. “With pleasure.”  
“Vinci, Lanciafiamme, Forte Staccatissimo!  
  
The two resonators charged their nature-based enemy, both immediately unleashing their fire spells. Saul did his best to stand up to the assault, but it was in vain, he was quickly overwhelmed by the fire, allowing Colette to rush right past him. The opposing maestro turned and attempted to run, but Colette boosted her speed with her rhythm, totally uncaring that her hair was quickly turning white. “Get back here motherfucker!” She roared.  
  
Tackling him to the ground, she punched the back of his head once before repeatedly smashing her fists into wherever she could strike. Thanks to the power of the healing ultimate still in effect, she could keep this up and her body wouldn’t protest it.  
  
“Colette! Holy shit stop!” Rebecca pulled her maestro off of the by then totally unconscious enemy. The girl continued swinging. “Let me go! He needs to hurt more!” She screamed, tears streaming down her face. “Colette! It’s over! We won!” The fire resonator continued to struggle to hold her maestro in place. Finally, the girl calmed down, panting hard. Rebecca hesitantly released her maestro. Colette walked over and flipped the beaten boy over with her foot.  
  
The blue aura suddenly faded away, drawing their attention back to Shouri and Blakki. Both the maestro and resonator’s hair turned totally white at the feat they accomplished, Blakki leaned against Shouri’s chest as he held her in his arms. The boy weakly waved back to the group, letting them know they were fine.  
  
Colette nodded and picked up the Blaze Lyre, she gave it a quick dust off and smiled at the instrument.  
  
“Th-the Noble Swords won’t take this lying down…”  
  
The group turned to Sera who had managed to get that out. His body was fading into light. Turning around, the same process was happening with Saul. “What do you mean the Noble Swords?” Sonia asked.  
  
“Heh heh… wouldn’t you like to know?” And with that Sera and Saul were just gone.


	60. Chapter 60

“Now what?” Colette asked, the fatigue finally catching up with her. Sonia pulled off her glasses, noting they were now in perfect condition despite being totally destroyed when the second wave of bears attacked. The seamstress sighed wearily. “That guy may get the last laugh after all.” Looking around, Blakki and Shouri’s healing saved them and restored their health, but despite being physically unharmed, they were all totally exhausted. All of them had part or all of their hair turned white from rampant overuse of their rhythm, with Shouri and Blakki attempting to stand off in the distance.  
  
CLAP CLAP CLAP  
  
The group looked around at the sudden noise, fearing some kind of attack. However, what they found was more disarming: Sitting on a nearby rock was Sahji, clapping in celebration. “Good work retrieving the Blaze Lyre.” He smiled, hopping down from the rock.  
  
“Sahji you useless fuck! What the fuck happened to that “I’m not a native entity of this world” bullshit you were spouting!?” Shouri barked, hobbling over with Blakki by sheer force of anger alone.  
  
“I haven’t lied to you Shouri. I can explain once we’re back in the shop.”  
  
The group remained silent, all slightly glaring at the sage. Shouri motioned angrily to the group who was in no physical condition to be doing any mountain climbing. “Ah of course. You've always had the power to go back to California.”  
  
Everyone glared at him. “It’s true! You just had to learn it for yourselves!” He told the group.  
  
The glares sharpened. “Alright everyone! Close your eyes, and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself "There's no place like home; there's no place like home; there's no place like home.””  
  
Silence  
  
“Gimmie your fucking sword Sahji; I got a wish I need granted.” Shouri growled, cracking his knuckles.  
  
The sage lit up drawing the sword from his robes, oblivious to the malice being directed his way. “Yes, yes, of course! What is your wish today?” He smiled, ready to present the End of Desire to the maestro.  
  
“I’m gonna wish for your death.”  
  
Maintaining his smile, Sahji put the sword back in his robes. “Well, I do say, time is of the essence, so let’s get you lot home.” He clapped in the air twice and they were all suddenly standing in the familiar shop where Sahji dwelt.  
  
“Just like that huh?” Colette blinked in shock at the ease it took to get them home. She fell onto one of the seat cushions that adorned the shop floor, still holding the Blaze Lyre tightly in her arms. Rebecca sat on the table that was behind her maestro, finally allowing herself to calm down now that the fighting was over.  
  
Sonia sighed in relief. Noting she and her resonator were in the best shape she spoke up: “Vinci and I will run and grab some apples, sit tight.” With that she rushed out of the shop. Shouri himself sat on one of the seat cushions, easing Blakki to the ground with him.  
  
“Start expositing, now.” He glared at the sage.  
  
“Oh whatever do you mean Shouri?”  
“I want to know how the hell you appeared on that mountain.”  
“Ah that’s simple, it was part of the other world.”  
“As I said before: start expositing NOW.”  
  
Sahji shook his head and chuckled lightly. “As I explained to you before, I cannot interfere with the dealings in your world because I am not an entity of your world. The concept of “hope and desire” is handled differently here. As soon as I walk out of that door I would fall into a void and lord Cievo would have to fish me out of the boundary between worlds.”  
  
“That maestro guy mentioned something about that. A “boundary cloud” or something.” Rebecca chimed in recalling Sera’s frenzied shout when he finally got ahold of the instrument.  
  
“Yes, call it somewhat of a cheat; it’s a process where one can blend two worlds together. In doing so you can allow ethereals to break the boundaries between worlds and manifest.” Sahji nodded. Shouri opened his mouth to snark at the sage, but the sage in question continued talking. “You faced a maestro and resonator; so they were probably working on behalf of an ethereal. Did he happen to say who he was working for?”  
  
“He said…” Colette trailed off, staring at the Blaze Lyre in her arms. “…the Noble Swords wouldn’t take this lying down.”  
  
Sahji nodded, his expression grim. “That is definitely a tricky situation.” He sat back on his own table. “Those three represent rebellion; the willingness of living things to combat entropy. They have a very special place among ethereals, as they embody concepts while coming from mortal lives.” The sage hummed to himself. “You’re quite lucky you didn’t face them today and only faced one of their followers. Even with the healing ultimate you would not have survived. Actually, even with all three of you using ultimates, you would not survive an encounter with a Noble Sword.”  
  
The room went silent.  
  
“S-so we just made enemies of them?! Wh-what can we do?!” Colette whimpered, curling around the fire-themed instrument tighter.  
  
“Well there’s still a chance.”  
  
The weary adults looked to the timeless sage. “Opening boundary clouds to mix the dimensions takes a lot of energy. More energy than three ethereals can produce. Just moving that maestro and resonator over probably spent them for a little bit. I doubt they’d waste energy on coming to you directly. They’d only spend that energy on trying to retrieve that Blaze Lyre there.”  
  
Shouri glanced down to the spent resonator that laid on his lap. “Sahji, none of your bullshit; why should I care?”  
  
“Hm?”  
“We all almost died up there. Why should I care about some fucks gathering these instruments?”  
  
A glint appeared in Sahji’s eyes as he chuckled. “Shouri Tomoshibi, must I remind you there are currently five people missing? Unless you can find another machine to traverse worlds, you’re stuck in this one.”  
  
“Five?” The boy narrowed his eyes at the sage. Despite the suspicious nature of Sahji’s words, Shouri still felt a sense of dread at the way he brought it up.  
  
“Let’s see, Amika, Pacifica, Faith, Ally, and Vienna.” Sahji listed off. Shouri merely stared, the last name wasn’t familiar to him. “Oh sorry, Vienna is Seven’s human name.”  
  
“S-seven?” Shouri gasped. He was trying to hide it, but his lower jaw trembled a bit. He recalled Ryo mention that name several times. “Wh-why would Seven be on the other side?” He asked shakily. Blakki kept her eyes closed, her own mind racing. Why was Seven the one to stand out among that group of five? Why her of all people?  
  
“It is my understanding that she tried to fight that man, Ryo Saitou in your stead with the help of Faith and Ally.” Sahji told him. “She threw herself on her knees, begged and pleaded for your fight against Ryo to not be in vain.” The sage closed his eyes with a knowing smile. “It’s so sad that you would betray another resonator that was in your care.”  
  
“B-bullshit. How the hell would you know? You said you don’t know what happens outside of this space. Was that another lie?”  
“I didn’t lie Shouri Tomoshibi. Think about it: if I’m suddenly privy to knowledge about a denizen of your world, what conclusion can you reach?”  
  
The maestro lowered his head. Blakki resisted her hardest to keep her ear from twitching when she heard her maestro muttering under his breath. “She fought for us… Despite knowing going against her father was suicide… I thought she was dead.” He paused. “She’s alive?” The way he spoke made Blakki feel conflicted about her maestro’s relationship with the artificial resonator that nearly cost both of them their lives.  
  
“Well Shouri, you need to go back to the other world. How else will you save them?”  
“What makes you think they need saving?”  
“Stop. Seriously. You’re just making yourself look stupid. What did you experience when you were in that world?”  
  
His gaze once more fell to the lunar resonator who rested her head on his lap. “It’s awful…” He muttered. “But… Amika and Seven… I can’t leave them in that.” He muttered. The boy curled up around Blakki. “B-but I don’t want Blakki to get hurt.”  
  
The vixen finally spoke when her maestro was closest. “I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth.” She whispered. “Just make sure you won’t regret your decision.”  
  
Sahji just watched the pair of lovers sit in their embrace for a moment. Shouri sat up with a bitter glare, resisting the tears forming at the edges of his eyes. “Fine, we’ll collect your fucking instruments.”  
  
\---  
  
That evening  
  
With Rebecca and Colette having retired early for the night, Sonia and Vinci were enjoying a peaceful dinner alone. The pair ate in silence. “This could use a bit of salt.” Vinci got up to go get it, however-  
  
“I got it!” Sonia got up and rushed back into the kitchen, emerging a moment later with the salt shaker. She set it in front of him and took a seat. The resonator thought nothing of it and shook out the salt he wanted. They returned to silence once more. He finished off his drink, staring at the empty cup for a moment. As soon as his chair moved, Sonia reached over, snatched up his cup and rushed out of the room shouting “I’ll get it!”  
  
Vinci frowned, allowing himself to drop back into his chair. Sonia returned a minute later with a fresh drink for the null resonator. He polished off the remainder of his food and stood up. Before he could pick up his plate Sonia had reached across the table and grabbed it. “I… got it.” She stared at him for a moment before standing up herself. She grabbed the rest of Vinci’s dishes and took them into the kitchen.  
  
The resonator stared at his maestro’s plate. It was barely halfway eaten. She was spending so much time waiting on him that she wasn’t eating. He sighed and walked into the kitchen where Sonia was busy washing his dishes.  
  
“Nini.”  
“Yes Vinci?”  
“What’s wrong?”  
  
The girl stopped what she was doing for a moment tensing up at the question. She lowered her head before speaking. “N-nothing is-“  
  
Vinci cut in: “We’re partners, remember?” He spoke evenly. “So why are you trying to do everything?” Sonia’s shoulders dropped. Slowly she turned to him, her face a contorted mess as she was desperately resisting the urge to cry. Vinci’s expression lightened. “Nini?”  
  
She stepped over and grabbed the dog-boy, holding him tightly. “Wh-when those bears attacked us that last time… I thought you were going to die… I thought I was going to have to go through that again… You’re all I have Vinci, you’re my only family. I can’t live through that again.” Sonia spoke through gut-wrenching sobs.  
  
\---  
  
Upstairs, Colette and Rebecca were getting ready to sleep.  
  
Rebecca sat on the edge of the bed, while Colette was reading a book that she had borrowed without asking from Shouri. “Colette, can we talk?”  
  
“About what?” Colette asked, looking up from her book.  
  
The resonator’s face reddened a bit. “About us…”  
  
Colette recalled Sonia’s words about Rebecca. “Oh sure!” She clapped the book closed, setting it on the nightstand.  
  
“Earlier you said, I wasn’t your sword.”  
“Of course not. You’re my friend. My best friend.”  
“H-how long have you thought that?”  
“Always.”  
  
That didn’t help the reddening on Rebecca’s face. What came to mind though, was Blakki, and how she was able to break that cultural norm so easily. The fire resonator relaxed. “I think I understand.” She smiled to herself.  
  
“Hm?” Colette tilted her head ever so slightly.  
  
The vixen turned to her maestro. “You really are an idiot, but you’re my idiot.”  
  
\---  
  
Shouri and Blakki meanwhile had been home for some time. Shouri emerged from the bathroom, ruffling his damp hair with a towel. The rest of the apartment was dark; Aura must have gone to sleep already. The boy yawned, he was ready for bed for sure, especially given how long the day had been.  
  
He tossed the towel into the dark bathroom, deciding to deal with it in the morning. When he entered his room to go to sleep, he found the room was strangely empty. His tuner sat on his desk where he had left it. With a quiet sigh he walked over and picked up the device, but before he could use it, he turned to the closet. Throwing the door open he found his resonator curled up on the ground, hugging her tail.  
  
“Sono arrabbiata con te, Sho.”  
“Why are you mad at me?”  
“Sai perché”  
“I wouldn’t be asking if I did.”  
  
She sat up, glaring at him. “Tra tutti, perché proprio lei? Why not Amika or Pacifica? Why not people we actually care about!? WHY ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT SEVEN!?”  
  
Shouri raised an eyebrow, his own expression slowly morphing into a glare. “You were okay with it in Sahji’s.” He raised his voice a bit, but tried to maintain his cool. “Well I changed my mind.” Blakki growled, getting to her feet.  
  
“Do you even know what she did for us?!”  
“No! Because that bitch made you wipe my memories!”  
“You wouldn’t have agreed to what she wanted anyways!”  
“Because you’re MY maestro, not hers!”  
“I’m free to do what I want!”  
  
Naturally, the screaming match awoke the third occupant of the small apartment who walked out into the living room just as Shouri and Blakki tumbled out of their bedroom. The elder sibling watched the two roll around the ground for a moment, trading positions of who was on top. Every time Shouri pinned Blakki he would attempt to make a break for it before she tackled him again. Whenever Blakki had Shouri in her grasp, it looked like she was trying to wrestle something out of his hand?  
  
“I thought you loved me!”  
“I do! I can’t be mad that you’re looking at another woman!?”  
“It’s not even like that!! Why are you being so controlling!?”  
“Excuse me for almost dying the last time she got involved in your life!”  
  
Having enough of this teenage drama, Aura opened her mouth to speak.  
  
“What’s-?”  
  
A sudden burst of yellow threw Blakki off of the boy. He scrambled for the door. He made it outside, but just as he did a blue aura appeared around his hand, pulling it back in the direction of the door. A quick flash of yellow around Shouri’s hand freed it. The vixen got up, rushing for the door herself.  
  
“DON’T LEAVE THIS HOUSE!”  
  
As soon as she reached the frame of the front door she stopped dead in her tracks. “I-I can’t move…” Blakki tried her hardest to will her body to move, but she couldn’t move towards Shouri, who was standing just outside of the door. The vixen stepped back, staring in confusion at her maestro. “I-I’m a weak idiot…” Tears rolled down his face as he trembled, holding down the red button. “I-I don’t want you to hurt anymore. I love you so much, but all I can ever seem to do is hurt you… I’m sorry… I’m not worthy to be your maestro or your boyfriend…” He turned and ran.  
  
“W-wait! Sho!” Blakki ran straight into the “barrier” that was cast by Shouri. “SHO! SHO! PLEASE!” The resonator stepped back from the door of her new prison cell, tears gathering in her eyes. “D-don’t leave me…”  
  
She fell to her knees. “W-what have I done?” 


	61. Chapter 61

“I see…” Sonia hummed in thought. It was the following morning and Aura had called over Sonia and friends to try and fix the situation. Blakki laid in Shouri’s bed, wrapped around his jacket, her gaze blank, staring out into the void. Dark circles surrounded her puffy, red eyes. “So she’s under the effect of a maestro command?” Colette asked for clarification.  
  
“That’s what I gathered, though I never used that function myself.” Sonia told her other-worldly counterpart. “Neither have I.” Colette replied simply, staring at the nearly comatose lunar resonator. Sonia pulled out her own tuner, staring at the clear bodied device. “I don’t have any kind of tracker on this.”  
  
“Supposedly tuners are supposed to seek out other tuners if left alone for too long, though that’s just something in the manual, you typically don’t see that put into practice.” Colette explained.  
  
“Why’s that?” Sonia asked.  
  
“Your weakness in rhythm can chip away at your psyche until you become no different from a scherzando. This very rarely happens though since simply existing near other humans balances this out through a process called “etude””  
  
“Ah. Still that doesn’t solve our current problem.” The null maestro’s eyes fell towards Shouri’s desk, where his cell phone laid. “We have no way of tracking him down.”  
  
Colette took a seat at Shouri’s desk. Blakki slowly looked over at seated maestro. The resonator’s lips moved to make the motions of saying “Sho” however no air passed to vocalize this.  
  
“Maybe Sahji will have some idea of where he is?” Colette suggested.  
“I don’t want to sound cruel, but I doubt any of us have a wish to find Shouri as strong as Blakki’s.” Sonia frowned.  
“And she can’t come with us.” The fire maestro frowned, folding her arms across her chest. “Hrm…”  
  
The other-worlder wracked her brain in thought. “Hmmmm…” Her eyes slowly opened. “I wonder.”  
  
\---  
  
“You want me to what now?” Sahji raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Send my tuner to Rose so she can make it work with this world’s networks, and also enable tracking.” Colette said to the sage. “I can send my cell-phone too so she knows what she’s working with.” Sonia added in.  
  
Vinci and Rebecca sat nearby, watching this exchange. “Did you see her?” Vinci asked his fiery counterpart. The vixen nodded slowly, keeping her eyes on her own maestro. “Yeah. She physically can’t leave the house. I tried pushing her out but there’s like a barrier keeping her from leaving.”  
  
“Strange. I didn’t think that button was that powerful.” The dog boy commented, rubbing the back of his head.  
  
Sahji appeared on the table, not only startling Rebecca and Vinci, but Colette and Sonia from his sudden disappearance. “It’s not.” The sage snickered. “It is certainly not powerful enough to prevent another force from violating the command.” Sahji slid off the table. He lowered his head before speaking again “Especially because…” The sage trailed off. He brought his head up sharply. “At any rate. I’m amused by your request. I’ll fulfill this wish.” With just a snap of his fingers Rose materialized in the shop out of thin air.  
  
“Woah! What the heck!?” Colette yelped, not expecting the ethereal to actually just appear in the shop.  
  
The tiny white haired ethereal looked around, getting her bearings together. “Oh, hey Colette.” Rose noted the familiar maestro immediately. “You and Rebecca are looking pretty tight these days.”  
  
Sonia stared at the small albino child. “So she’s-”  
  
The inventor cut off the questioning maestro. “Rose. You’re Sonia Renoir. I’m sorry about what happened. I’m glad my tuner has been able to give you some peace of mind.” Sonia stared for a moment before smiling.  
  
Getting to the point, Rose walked over to the pair of maestros. “So Shouri got in a fight with Blakki huh? Their fights are always so serious.” The woman sighed, shaking her head.  
  
Colette’s jaw caught a bit of slack. “W-wait, how do you-?”  
“Every tuner given out in this world is hand made by me. I know everything that happens to them.”  
  
With a snap of her finger both Sonia and Colette’s tuners appeared in her hand. “Gimmie that cell phone.” She looked to Sonia. The maestro shook herself out of her stupor and handed the device over to the height-challenged ethereal. Setting the three devices down on the table Rose looked them over. She reached her hand inside the screen of the cell phone. Small sparks arced around her arm which was going deeper and deeper into the phone as if it was made of liquid. Sonia never having seen this before simply watched in part awe (and a touch bit of fear).  
  
The technician in question had her head tilted up, seemingly relying purely on touch to work. “Hmm, I see… They call it 4G huh? That’s interesting.” She mused aloud as she continued to quite literally poke around inside the device. “Hmm, a network of towers for communications. Quite fast for such a brute-force method of transmission.” Rose tilted her head back and forth as she worked. Her eyes widened suddenly before her lips settled on a smirk. “Aha! I get it now!” Rose pulled her hand out, holding a small orb of light.  
  
“What… did you do?” Sonia asked hesitantly, wondering if she was about to have to buy a new cell phone.  
  
Rose tossed the orb of light into the air and catching it repeatedly, much like one would a baseball. “This is a copy of the “4G” thing that this phone uses. I can copy it into any tuner now.” With a toss, the orb splashed against Colette’s tuner. “There you go. You’ll need to get a data plan for this world, but you should be able to use their networks, just like home.” The trio of devices began floating around Rose. “Also…” She tapped on the two tuners floating around her. “I copied the trackers I enabled for Shouri before.” Her previous smirk faded into an annoyed glare “If I even smell you abusing this function, I’ll turn it off remotely, capisci?”  
  
“Yes mam!” The two girls nodded in unison. With that agreement, the three devices were returned to their respective owners.  
  
Confirming the functions Rose said she had added Colette nodded. “I guess I can get a data plan later. Let’s find Shouri.” She told Sonia who also nodded in agreement.  
“Wait. You’re gonna want some back-up.” Rose said, motioning to Sahji. He grimaced at the other ethereal. There was an exchange of expressions, ending with an eye roll from the Wish Sage. “Fine.” He sighed seemingly in defeat. From his robes he produced the Blaze Lyre. Releasing it from his hand, it floated over to Colette.  
  
“Why?” Colette asked, accepting the stringed instrument regardless of her apprehension.  
  
“The Orchestra of Heaven is compatible with any tuner. Just keep that in mind. Now go! Time is of the essence!” Rose barked, pointing at the door.  
  
Knowing very well that probably meant nothing good, the group of four rushed out the door without further argument.  
  
“Really Sahji? Were you just planning on letting them run right into that?”  
“They’d be fine.”  
“Sahji.”  
“That girl needs to learn to stop thinking so close mindedly. Actually, both of them do.”  
“I’m not timeless like you are. What do you know?”  
“It’s quite an interesting power. If you can figure out why their rhythm pulls the way it does, you’ll have your answer.”  
  
Rose shook her head and shrugged. “Okay Seres.” She scoffed sarcastically. “Hey! I’m not nearly as bad as him!” Sahji pouted childishly.  
  
The tuner-maker chuckled. “I suppose not. I’m heading home. Hopefully they don’t get killed.” She walked towards the door and then vanished into fragments of light just how she had appeared. “No no, it’s far too early for that.”  
  
\---  
  
“These woods are super thick.” Colette muttered, pushing away some branches with one arm while holding the Blaze Lyre in the other. “I can’t believe Shouri made it up here all by himself.” Rebecca added. Sonia stared down at her own tuner which showed a dot flashing not too far away from them. “This is definitely the place though.” She commented.  
  
Vinci remained quiet. There was something off about this place. Something that just didn’t sit right with him. He only hoped this was a feeling and not a premonition of something worse. Though he feared it was the former, especially given that Rose demanded they take the Blaze Lyre with them.  
  
Rebecca suddenly came to a stop, holding her arm out, ears pointed straight up at attention. “Shhh!” The group remained quiet. “You hear that?”  
  
Vinci closed his eyes, focusing on what was ahead of them. His hearing wasn’t as good as Rebecca’s but…  
  
“There’s something making a bunch of noise ahead.” He muttered. “It sounds big whatever it is.”  
  
The two maestros looked to each other and gulped. “I guess we’ll move in carefully.” Sonia suggested, stealing another glance at her tuner. As the group advanced on their target, the two young adults with normal human ears began to hear what sounded like loud stomping. “What the heck?” Colette gulped, holding the Blaze Lyre tighter.  
  
“Shouri’s in the direction of the noise, let’s go!” Sonia barked, actually taking decisive action and running into the clearing ahead.  
  
“What-”  
“-the-”  
“-actual-”  
“-FUCK?!”  
  
What stood in the clearing defied common sense and logic. A huge European styled dragon stood among the trees. Nearby was an open cave. The dragon spotted the group of four and made the motions of a roar, but no sound came out; much like a scherzando.  
  
“HIT THE DECK!” They heard Shouri’s voice, and heeded the advice. The dragon-like creature unleashed a torrent of water that practically melted the trees that they were standing by.  
  
“Shouri!? What’s going on?!” Sonia shouted, not seeing their target in question.  
  
“It’s a Scherzando! What does it look like!?” The group still didn’t know where he was at, but that was definitely his voice that was barking at them.  
  
The dragon scherzando towered over the group however, so they’d have to focus on that. Looking at the creature, it did seem to be covered in a thick armor made of ice.  
  
Rebecca gulped “Great it’s water…” The fire resonator quavered slightly. With a motion of a roar the dragon stomped the ground and from its foot the ground began to turn to mud, collapsing in on itself and forming a between the group and the scherzando. “The hell?!” Colette yelped, stepping back from the seemingly collapsing terrain  
  
“What was that?!” Sonia yelped, not recognizing the spell at all. “No idea, I’ve never seen a hole spell before.” Colette noted the position of the newly formed sinkhole. “That looks like an earth spell, but its body is made out of water.” The more learned maestro of the pair noted.  
  
“We got spells for water though, let’s give it a shot!” Vinci barked, stepping forward. With a nod Sonia glared down their target. “Corrente Elettrica, Forte!” She commanded. Vinci created a blade of electricity, which slashed the target dragon. The dragon scherzando roared in protest at the successful attack and opened its mouth, a blast of ultra-hot steam pointed right at Vinci.  
  
“Move!”  
  
Before the null resonator knew what was happening, he was a distance away, and Rebecca had taken the attack in his place. The steam quickly dissipated into the air. “Ow ow ow…” Rebecca gritted her teeth. Pain radiated up and down her body, her skin slightly reddened as she felt uncomfortably warm. “I’m singed?” She gritted her teeth.  
  
“How?” Colette stared at her tuner  
  
 _Rebecca  
Status: Singed  
Rhythm: 79%  
_  
“Water spells can’t cause singeing…” Colette muttered. “What do you mean?” Sonia asked. “Some fire attacks can cause singeing, which slows down the afflicted resonator. I’ve heard it described like being sunburnt.” Colette explained. “But I don’t know of any water attacks that can cause singeing like that.” At that moment her tuner beeped loudly. “Wait, I got a new spell?”  
  
The dragon wasn’t going to let her investigate however, it acted like it was roaring once more and the clouds began to darken. “What now?” Sonia asked. As if to answer her question, it began to rain. At first it seemed harmless enough. But then something very concerning began to happen.  
  
“This rain is sapping their rhythm!” Colette noted watching Rebecca’s rhythm percentage fall one percent at a time.  
  
“It’s weather, we can change it!” Rebecca barked to her maestro.  
“Raggia del Sahara!” Colette blurted out  
  
Rebecca folded her hands over each other. She closed her eyes, as a ball of fiery energy gathered between her hands. She opened her eyes and raised her hands, throwing the small ball of fire energy, towards the dark clouds. A hole opened up in the rainclouds allowing the sun to come out in full force.  
  
“H-hey! Vinci is still taking damage!”  
“Sorry! Raggia del Sahara deals small fire damage! But at least fire spells are stronger now!”  
  
Sonia glared at Colette but decided now wasn’t the time. The dragon growled at its opponents, before opening its mouth and unleashing a torrent of water. Rebecca went to move, but a wave of pain radiated through her body, preventing her from moving.  
  
“Damn it!”  
  
The fire resonator opened her eyes slowly. She was still singed, but not soaked like she had been expecting. In fact, she was now on the ground with her current teammate on top of her. Vinci pushed himself off of her. “You okay?”  
  
“I guess that makes us even.” Rebecca smirked.  
  
The pair of resonators got up off the ground, glaring at the enemy dragon. They had only got one solid hit in, but at least the residual damage from Rebecca’s weather seemed to be helping. “What do we do?” Colette gritted her teeth in frustration. If the dragon could make a sound, Colette imagined it would be growling at them right now with how intently it was staring them down.  
  
“I think maybe if I use Corrente Elettrica we can win, but I’m not sure how many I can do in Forte. Even then…” Sonia looked up at the dragon, shielding her eyes from the intensified sun. Despite it all, the creature still looked like it could take much more of a beating. And it was simply faster and stronger than them.  
  
“How about you use that spell you just got? It might be more effective.” A new voice spoke up.  
  
Spinning around, they saw a small girl clad in red with sparkling red wings sitting in one of the remaining trees.  
  
Colette was the first to speak: “Who-?”  
“What’s missing from your arms?” The winged-girl asked Colette.  
“The Blaze Lyre!”  
“You got it! That’s me!”


	62. Chapter 62

  
“What is this?!” Colette stared at the screen of her tuner. Below all of her other spells sat a new listing:  
  
 _Scottare  
Legato_  
  
“I’ve never heard of this spell before. What is that modifier…?”  
  
“Colette!” Before she knew what was happening, the maestro was in her resonator’s arms. Rebecca slid to a stop, panting hard, staring at the sizable hole in the ground where Colette had been standing. “Idiot! Why did you space out like that?!” The fox-girl barked at the girl in her arms. Colette weakly held out their tuner. “Th-there’s a new spell…” She stammered out, still getting her own bearings.  
  
“Corrente Electrica, Forte!”  
  
Rebecca set Colette on her feet as the pair watched Vinci swing another blade of electricity at the huge dragon. The beast reeled back from the blow before countering with a stream of water. Vinci thankfully was able to dart out of the way of the water attack directed at him.  
  
“Why don’t you try it?” The winged girl asked, landing next to the fire pair. “It’s gonna feel weird, but you can do it.”  
  
Colette looked to Rebecca who stared back. The maestro stole a glance to the strange spell still listed on her tuner. She looked back up at her resonator; with a nod Rebecca rushed out into battle again.  
  
“Scottare, Legato!”  
  
Sonia turned at the cry of the command. Vinci watched as Rebecca blazed by him, taking to the sky with fire at her heels. When she was above the enemy dragon she gathered the rhythm into an attack. It felt like so much more rhythm than she was used to. There was another feeling too. It wasn’t just the fire in her heart. There was another… calm feeling. It was cooling, but threatened to drown her if she let it.  
  
Even as her body moved, she had to keep the fire in her soul in check. This spell required more balance than any of her normal ones.  
  
Thrusting her hands outward, the attack took form, a stream of scalding hot steam rushed at the dragon, hitting it square in the face. Rebecca continued the attack, using every bit of rhythm she was provided to deal the most damage.  
  
When the attack finished, she allowed herself to fall back towards the earth, igniting her heels once more to land.  
  
“You used it’s attack?” Vinci questioned as the fire resonator landed next to him. “I-I guess so… That was different from my normal attacks.” Rebecca stared at her hands wondering what she had just done.  
  
Colette held a hand over her chest. That spell yanked so much rhythm out of her, she felt her heart stop for at least ten seconds. “Here, let me help.” The winged girl had grabbed Colette’s tuner hand. “We can win just like before.” She smiled.  
  
“Before?”  
“That nature maestro. As long as you hold my hand I can provide you with rhythm. You singed the dragon with that Scottare. Keep going.”  
  
The maestro nodded.  
  
“Rebecca! Scottare, Legato!”  
  
The vixen’s eyes went wide as she felt her body move to cast the steam spell again. “Hey! Back her up! You should have something in Lightning to help!” The small newcomer shouted.  
  
Sonia jumped at suddenly being yelled at. Looking at her tuner she noted the other lightning spell she had. “Oh! I get it! Vinci: Pasticcio, Accelerando!”  
  
With a clap of his hands a wave of energy caught the Scottare Rebecca had just finished casting and not only increased the speed, but intensity of the attack.  
  
“Oh yeah, Pasticcio can either dampen incoming attacks or amplify outgoing attacks.” Colette realized what she was going after with that suggestion.  
  
The dragon stumbled back, having one of its attacks turned on it and now it was losing ground. It turned to flee, however in its way stood another figure. A small puny human, however there was a bright blazing blue light coming from this human. The dragon created a ball of ice and fired it at this new blue human, however they were too quick and darted around the ice ball.  
  
“Corrente Electrica, Forte!”  
“Scottare, Legato!”  
  
The two attacks hit the distracted scherzando, finally felling the beast. With a thunderous thud, it hit the ground and began to fade into the air.  
  
With the battle finally over, Colette fell to her knees. Sonia leaned back against a nearby tree, wiping the gathered sweat from her brow. Rebecca and Vinci both were allowed to relax. They looked at each other for a moment. Rebecca smirked holding out a fist. Vinci smiled back wearily and bumped fists with his ally.  
  
“Good job.” Shouri clapped, walking out from the cave.  
  
“Shouri!?” The group all barked at the boy.  
“That is my name.” He replied.  
  
“What the hell are you doing out here?!” Colette barked from her position on the ground.  
  
“Taking care of some unfinished business. I do appreciate the help.” He replied.  
  
Sonia pushed herself off the tree. “Unfinished… business?” She questioned, raising an eyebrow. The boy walked over to the battle-scarred group. “This was one I couldn’t beat before. When…” His gaze fell. He raised his head. “I’m just weak. I wanted to beat this since I couldn’t before. But you went and did it for me.”  
  
“But why did you lock Blakki up!?” Sonia barked.  
“…”  
“Answer me Shouri!”  
“I didn’t want her to get hurt.”  
“Well you hurt her way more by running away.”  
“I know.”  
  
“The fuck’s your problem!?” Colette decided to hop in, only to regret it when Shouri shot her a particularly nasty glare.  
“You are not allowed to judge me for my actions.” He practically growled at Colette.  
  
The seamstress sighed, shaking her head. She took off her glasses and cleaned the lens with her shirt. “So will you go home now?”  
  
Shouri pondered that for a moment. “I suppose. We’ve gotten our fill out here.”  
  
“Ohhh, so that’s what’s going on.”  
  
Everyone looked to the small winged child. “Who the hell are you?” Shouri asked the pertinent question.  
  
“Oh right. I’m Blaze Lyre of the Orchestra of Heaven.” The girl curtsied. “You can call me “Blaze” for short”  
  
The brown-haired maestro took in a deep breath and held it for a moment before releasing it. “Yep. Gonna kill that sage.”  
  
\---  
  
Sonia and Colette arrived back at the shop some hours later, finally back to normal after the trials and tribulations of the day.  
  
“Finally not singed, man that was annoying.” Rebecca sighed, collapsing into one of the dining room chairs. Colette joined her resonator at the table, but remained quiet.  
  
“You okay princess?” Rebecca asked.  
“E-eh?” Colette looked up in shock at the sudden nickname.  
“Well if I’m not your sword, maybe I could be your knight instead.” The vixen looked over her maestro. “Especially with the way I had to save you from that dragon today, you were a regular damsel in distress.” She laughed.  
“D-don’t call me that.” The maestro blushed. “I-I’m just thinking about the things we learned today.”  
  
Rebecca leaned back in her chair. “Scottare.” She breathed out, her expression turning serious. “It felt weird.”  
  
“Define weird.”  
“Well, like when I cast a fire spell I feel like the words you speak carry a spark that lights a fire in my body. But with that spell I feel like-“  
  
“Her words are a drop of water falling into a ocean?”  
  
The pair turned to see Vinci in the entranceway. “Y-yeah, how did you know?”  
  
“That’s the feeling I get when Sonia commands water spells.” Vinci told them. “I had a hunch based on what you did out there.” He elaborated.  
  
The fire resonator looked at her hands. “I can cast water spells?” She questioned. “Any other weird feelings?” Vinci asked. The fox-girl continued to stare at her hands. “When the dragon used Scottare on us it was… all I could see. I never felt that way looking at any spell before.” She explained quietly, trying to find the right words.  
  
The trio remained quiet for a moment. “As I watched it moved I thought to myself: “I can do that!” The feeling was so strong. I’ve never felt that way before.”  
  
Vinci hummed in thought. “Is it like that in the other world? Can you learn spells by watching them?” He asked.  
  
Rebecca shook her head. “Not at all. It’s something you have to feel. Your body will just be able to use your spells as you grow.” She explained.  
  
“Hrm. Wasn’t sure if that was something exclusive to this world or not.” Vinci folded his arms across his chest.  
  
“At any rate using this new spell is gonna be hard.” Colette sighed.  
“Why’s that?” Rebecca asked. “It didn’t feel stronger than a Forte.”  
“When I used it the first time it used so much of my rhythm I swear my heart stopped for a moment.”  
  
The trio fell to silence once again. “That’s ridiculous! It wasn’t even that strong! Why would it use so much rhythm?!” Rebecca barked.  
  
“Blaze knew exactly what it was and she even provided me rhythm so we could use it properly.” Colette frowned. “It’s nice to have another tool in our arsenal, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to let you use it Rebecca.” She averted her gaze from her resonator.  
  
“That’s okay.” Rebecca spoke up. Colette looked over at her partner, mouth slightly agape. “We don’t need that. We’ll figure out what it is at our own pace.” The fox-girl grinned toothily. For a moment, Colette saw her bubbly, yet confident childhood friend. She resisted the tears that wanted to spill from her eyes. “Y-yeah.” Colette smiled, rubbing her eyes.  
  
\---  
  
Blakki sat in a void of pure darkness all alone. She would close her eyes and open them every so often. It wouldn’t change. It was always the same void.  
  
Except… there was a feeling. A sudden tightness in her chest. Burning of rhythm. Visions came to her. She simply moved. A dodge roll here, an application of rhythm there. Taking cover over there. Side-step away from that attack. Wait, could she use that? That didn’t make sense.  
  
At any rate, she was a skilled fighter for sure. Where did these skills even come from? As the dream faded, she returned to her thoughts. Fighting felt so natural to her. Was it because she was a resonator?  
  
That didn’t seem right. Sure, all the resonators she had met thus far had absolutely no qualms about battle, but there was something wrong with her specifically. It felt almost too natural. She looked down and closed her hand into a fist. If she was supposed to be a healer, why were her fists soaked in so much blood?  
  
Slowly her eyes opened again. Only this time it wasn’t the void, nor the dream. It was Shouri’s bedroom. She was still hugging his jacket tightly.  
  
“I’m sorry Sho.” She whimpered, curling up around the article of clothing tighter.  
“Me too Blakki.” Her ears perked up. Standing in the doorway, covered in dirt and drenched in sweat was…  
  
“SHO!”  
  
Before he knew it, he was on the ground with a sobbing fox girl on top of him. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She repeatedly cried.  
  
“Stop apologizing. You’re right. I should apologize for being so weak.” Shouri adverted his gaze.  
“You’re not weak Sho, I am.” She sat up on him, lowering her head.  
“Blakki, you’re not-”  
“I am!” She cried out, covering her face.  
  
“I’m petty and jealous. I’m just a ball of insecurities.”  
Shouri had his own rebuttal however. “I don’t know why you even like me. I just sit around all day and do nothing, I-”  
  
“Can you two cut it out?” The pair looked up to see Aura hovering over them. “God you two were made for each other. You’re just one big pity party. Can you just skip to the make-up sex?” The annoyed sibling grumbled, glaring at the dramatic duo.  
  
“E-eh?!” Blakki blushed, re-covering her face.  
  
“Seriously though, can you guys keep it down when you fuck? This apartment isn’t that big.” The elder sister muttered with a cough while adverting her gaze.  
  
Blakki would never be the same.  
  
\---  
  
“So Blaze… Where’s the next one?”  
“Chinchaycocha, the Sea Bell slumbers in the depths of the great source.”


	63. Chapter 63

“Here we are kids. This is as close as I can get you to that Lake by plane. I’ll be back in two days to come pick you up.”  
  
A group of six stepped out onto a busy terminal. Taking in their new surroundings, the first thing they noticed was everything was written in an unfamiliar language. Everyone around them seemed to be speaking the foreign language in question too.  
  
“Uhg, this was an awful idea.” Shouri groaned immediately.  
“Yeah, this is gonna be tough. I was hoping for some English.” Sonia herself wilted seeing just how alien everything was around them.  
  
Rebecca stepped forward, closing her eyes. Her ears twitched a few times before she turned back to the group. “Prueba, prueba, prueba.” She opened her eyes and grinned toothily. “Eso fue más rápido de lo que pensaba.” The vixen spoke flawlessly.  
  
“What the fuck?” Shouri narrowed his eyes. Sonia didn’t have anything useful to add and just stared at Rebecca as if she’d seen a ghost.  
  
“Huh?” Colette looked at her fellow maestros in confusion. “What’s wrong?” She wondered.  
  
“Since when can Rebecca speak Spanish?” Shouri pointed at the resonator who was now talking to one of the locals and holding a normal conversation without any issue.  
  
The fire maestro raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?” She questioned, still confused as to what the problem is. “Rebecca can speak the local language.” Sonia tried to clarify as simply as she could.  
  
“Of course she can.”  
“Don’t “of course” me Colette!”  
“Your resonators did it too.”  
  
“¿De qué hablas?” Blakki covered her mouth after hearing what she had said. “¿Qué tal lo estoy haciendo esto?” She squeaked out.  
  
“Resonators are more attuned to rhythm. As Master Noir taught us, Rhythm is the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of those who are living. Especially in big places like this its quite easy for a resonator to “soak in” a local language.” Colette explained.  
  
“Me parece conveniente.” Vinci rolled his eyes, demonstrating he too could speak Spanish simply from exposure.  
  
Shouri shook his head. It was just another thing he had to add to the list of “things that would have been nice to know” that he would present to Sahji at the end of all this. He glanced to Blakki who stared at him frettingly. “Great, so now I can’t understand Blakki?”  
  
“No? She still speaks English just fine. You are her maestro, the biggest source of rhythm for her.” Colette said as if this should all be elementary.  
  
“I can?” Blakki asked. She brightened up, hearing herself speak English. “I can! Sho I missed you!” She cried out wagging her tail joyously at the revelation.  
“I… okay.” With a sigh he recomposed himself, adjusting his backpack. He turned to Colette. “At least getting a hotel will be manageable. I was about to google my way through this whole trip.”  
“Is that what you were bitching about before?” Colette narrowed her eyes as they began to walk.  
“Yeah! I wasn’t aware that our magical fox girls doubled as interpreters.”  
“You guys sure don’t know a lot about resonators.”  
“Well excuse me princess!”  
“Not you too!”  
  
\---  
  
Shouri flopped onto the bed at their hotel. “God, this sucks.” He groaned. They had settled on one of the literal two hotels in town. Neither had particularly glowing reviews. The prices weren’t terrible, less than thirty bucks per room. The staff was quite nice to them, welcoming even. From what Blakki had translated for Shouri they treated all their guests like family.  
  
It was just unnerving being in a foreign country. Despite having access to rhythm and resonators, the last thing he needed was to step on the wrong toes or piss off the government somehow. He had enough of making people mad simply by existing.  
  
He began to doze off, the previous thirteen-hour flight having taken its toll on the young adult. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier. It felt like time was passing at uneven intervals.  
  
“EIYAH!!” The boy hopped up out of bed (shocked out of sleep by a rush of adrenaline) and darted into the bathroom. “Blakki?!” He exclaimed. The vixen poked her head out from the shower, having turned it off. “S-sorry Sho. The water’s just cold, even though I turned it to hot.” She whimpered, covering herself with her arm and tail. The maestro took a breath, holding a hand over his rapidly beating heart. “Scared the living daylights out of me.” He took a moment to calm his nerves and took a peek in the shower. Normal hot and cold knobs. He looked around the bathroom itself.  
  
The only thing that stuck out was a faded piece of paper hanging on the wall.  
  
 _“Atención!  
El calentador de agua se apagan por la noche.  
Gracias por darnos su negocio y disfrute de su estancia.”_  
  
The boy furrowed his brow. It was obviously a notice of some kind. He pointed at the paper. “What does it say?” He asked his resonator/translator.  
  
Blakki squinted at the message left for them. It felt so familiar, but she just couldn’t read it. It was like it was on the tip of her tongue, but the meanings of all the words escaped her. She shook her head after a moment. “Sorry, I can’t seem to read it.” She frowned. “Can you still speak it?” He questioned.  
  
“Am I doing it?” She frowned hard. “No, I can’t.” Shouri nodded. “It probably faded away cause you’re not around enough “local rhythm” anymore, or something.” The maestro theorized. Thinking about it further, she opened her mouth and began to speak again. “So parlare "Italian" quando serve.” This earned another hard frown from the vixen.  
  
“When we met you spoke Italian. You only started speaking English when I started talking. Your ears twitched at that time.” Shouri explained, taking a seat on the porcelain throne. “What if Italian was your native language?” He asked.  
  
“But I’ve spoken English perfectly fine this time.” The vixen lowered her head. “Yeah. You’ve been constantly exposed to English speakers and English rhythm. If you were dumped into another country, you’d probably speak whatever language they spoke along with Italian.” He theorized. As he spoke he pulled out his phone and typed in the message on the sign to solve that mystery in the interim.  
  
The lunar resonator continued to stare at the ground. “I don’t want it.” She muttered.  
“Hm?” He glanced up from his phone.  
“I don’t want this. I only want English. I don’t want my past.”  
“You still don’t remember anything?”  
  
She gulped. Her immediate gut instinct was to lie to him and that made her feel absolutely disgusting. Why would that even be her first thought?! “I remember bits and pieces.”  
  
“When did this happen?”  
“Mostly in the other world.”  
“What do you remember?”  
  
She began to visibly shudder, something not lost on her maestro. “It’s not much… but… nothing good. It’s voices, they all hate me.” Shouri narrowed his eyes, looking away from his resonator. “Yeah, that sounds about right.” He grumbled bitterly.  
  
The pair remained in silence for a moment. “Oh. That’s dumb.” The vixen looked up. Shouri hopped up off the toilet. “They turn off the water heater at night. Not too terribly surprised. This was like one of two hotels in town.” He shrugged, pocketing his phone. “Makes me almost miss Noir’s dumb rhythm water heaters.”  
  
“Ah. I’ll take a cold shower. No big deal.” She still seemed stuck in her feelings about their previous discussion. Shouri hummed, tilting his head very slightly back and forth for a moment, debating what to do. “Fuck it.” Before Blakki could ask what was wrong, he stepped forward, lifting her chin with his hand and planting his lips on hers. He pulled away after completing the kiss. “I love you Blakki; no matter what happened in your past, that’s behind you. I’m here for you now.” He stepped away. “Enjoy your shower.”  
  
Blakki, still completely nude, backed up into the wall; her face redder than it had ever been.  
  
The only thing she could think about was how absolutely smooth that was.  
  
It was practically criminal.  
  
\---  
  
The group of six was quiet as their rented car cautiously traversed the dirt roads heading towards the Junin National Reserve.  
  
“There’s not much on this place.” Sonia noted, attempting to look up something about their destination.  
“Yeah. It’s a reserve, so I hope we don’t have to set it on fire.” Shouri shrugged, resisting the urge to roll his eyes since he was the driver.  
“What’s a “dam”?” Colette asked, using the internet browser on her tuner.  
  
“It’s a huge structure that blocks a water way and uses the natural flow of water to produce electricity.” Sonia told the other girl. “Do you not have them in your world?”  
The other-worlder shook her head. “We use rhythm for all of our energy needs. I never really thought about how efficient or inefficient it is. I would imagine it’s better than the uhhh “lizard goop” you all use here.”  
Sonia glared at the rearview mirror. “What have you been telling her?” She asked the driver.  
“Just the truth.” He chuckled.  
  
As they pulled up to the lake a familiar sight came into their vision a thick fog that surrounded the lake proper. “That’s not good.” Shouri grumbled, pulling the car to a stop on the roadside. Rebecca and Vinci looked at each other, sharing a short nod. Blakki, who was sitting in the front passenger seat balled up her fists tightly on her lap, glaring at the low-lying cloud.  
  
“I-it’s just fog, it is kinda cold outside and were near a lake.” Sonia noted, throwing her door open as soon as the vehicle was totally stopped. “Come on Sonia, fog doesn’t just make a perfect dome like that.” Shouri snarked at his fellow maestro, pocketing the keys and running towards the misty dome.  
  
Blakki had run around the car and was right behind her maestro. Sonia and Colette followed their fearless leader into the mist. The lake was low at the moment, so they could run on a portion of exposed land. In the middle of the fog dome there was a small light glowing above the water.  
  
“Vinci, Idrante, Pianissimo.” The null resonator nodded and with a flick of his wrist, a blade of water splashed against the lake surface. The boy’s eyes went wide as soon as he did this, physically shuddering after a moment. “Yeah, that’s definitely it.” He muttered, adjusting his hat ever so slightly as he glared at the pale blue dot in the distance.  
  
They had located the instrument they were after; however it was still quite far away. “How the heck do we get it? I’m sure as hell not swimming.” Rebecca grumbled.  
  
“Actually, do you think you could make it there and back with Icarus’ Ala?” Shouri suggested.  
  
The fire resonator glanced down at her feet and then traced the distance between her and the small point of eerie blue light hovering above the water. “I might not have feet when I get back.” She frowned.  
  
“I can probably grab it.” Blakki suggested. “The Blaze Lyre wasn’t too heavy, and as long as I can place where I can see it I can move it.” She added.  
  
“Oh, I get it. Since Volontà Estesa is a mind-based skill as long as you can place it spatially, you have access to it.” Colette nodded. “It looks pretty far away.”  
  
Blakki nodded, she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out an apple. “I asked the lady at the front desk at the hotel if she had one and she gave it to me.” Shouri patted his resonator’s back. “Good thinking.” He smiled. The lunar resonator couldn’t help but smile back at her boyfriend’s praise.  
  
“She’s gonna have to do it in one go, so let’s support her with our rhythm. If it falls into the water we’re fucked.” The male maestro told his female counterparts. They both nodded in agreement and the trio of rhythm users placed their hands on Blakki’s back.  
  
She closed her eyes and focused on the light. In her mind she imagined a bell, given that she had the support of her friends behind her (quite literally) she used a bit more rhythm than she usually would and surrounded the glow in the distance. It took a minute or two for her to establish the “link” in space so far out, but once she had hold of it she began to reel it in like a fisherman.  
  
The blue glow of the Sea Bell grew closer and closer, the trio of maestros watching in anticipation as they began to make out the shape of the instrument. It was what one would expect from a bell, it had a brown wood handle, the bell itself was made of three layers, the top layer being a light blue, the middle the more traditional blue color, and the bottom of the bell being a dark, navy blue, each layer was stylized like waves.  
  
BANG  
  
Just when the bell was in range of them grabbing it, Blakki blasted the whole group with a mental wave. Throwing them all away from where she had been standing. The Sea Bell splashed into the water, sinking into the shallow depths nearby.  
  
“What the-?!”  
“Get up! Someone shot at us!” Blakki barked.  
  
“Bastioni del Ritmo!” Shouri barked. The lunar resonator scrambled to her feet and threw up a wall of lunar energy in front of the group just in time to intercept another shot. A bullet of rhythm splashed against the barrier, cracking it.  
  
“Shouri, crescendo spells aren’t as strong as the genuine article, use the other shield spells!”  
“Colette, we’re literally being shot at, we need some kind of cover!”  
  
“Rebecca, try to find out where the shots are coming from! I gotta focus on maintaining this.” Blakki barked out to her comrade. Rebecca nodded and stood still; her ears pointed straight up as she listened out for the next shot. The lunar resonator in the meantime pulled the apple out she had stowed away earlier and tossed it to Shouri. “You eat it Sho, I think you’ll need it.”  
  
The boy nodded and quickly downed the fruit, while looking out himself for any signs of attack.  
  
BANG CRACK  
  
The lunar wall cracked a bit more, fading in some spots. “Sotto! Bastioni del Ritmo!”  
  
BANG  
  
The wall faded away for just a second and in the second another shot rang out, nicking Rebecca’s ear. “Ah!” The girl quickly fell to her knees, grabbing her ear.  
  
“Rebecca!” Colette cried out kneeling down next to her resonator. “It’s okay. It was just rhythm, even hitting my ear…” The fire resonator gritted her teeth, glaring at the lake. The maestro stole a glance to her tuner. “Oh dear… That took twenty percent. That’s ridiculous.” Colette gulped. Looking back at Rebecca, she seemed to be having a very difficult time catching her breath, her hand slowly moved up to her shirt and she gripped it tightly.  
  
“Corrente Electrica, Forte!” Sonia cried out. Vinci took a slash at the air, sending a huge blade of electricity in a particular direction of the lake. “I heard them.” Vinci clarified. “Corrente Elettrica, Forte Staccatissimo!” His maestro called out. The resonator sent several blades of electricity out towards the water, seemingly chasing a moving target. Finally, a large, well-built figure ran on the water unleashing a practical storm of icy needles at the group. As he drew closer, they could see his distinct blue hair as well as his choice of clothing. His outfit looked a little like the attire the soldiers in the other world wore. The only distinguishing feature that made him a resonator outside of his powers was the small reptilian tail coming from his rear.  
  
“We drew them out, but now what?!” Shouri barked, getting ready to re-cast the wall spell.  
“Sho! Ultimate!” Blakki yelped.  
  
Seeing how fast and hard the assaults were coming, he nodded in agreement. The healing ultimate was the only way to get out of this, especially now that they had drawn the resonator out.  
  
“Dominio degli angeli, Ultri-” He couldn’t finish his sentence. His eyes went wide, his body wracked with tremors. The boy hunched over holding his hand over his mouth, but couldn’t keep it down.  
  
“Sh-sho?!” Blakki turned around when she heard her maestro violently eject his stomach contents on the ground. He stood hunched over, continuing to tremble before falling to his knees. “What’s going on?!” Blakki shouted.  
  
“We need to run…” Shouri breathed out, tears rolling down his cheeks from the violent upheaval of his digestive system. Blakki gritted her teeth, turning around Colette was attending to Rebecca who was still struggling to breathe. To make matters even worse, the last remains of the lunar wall faded away, leaving the group totally exposed to their enemy who had completely closed the gap between them. Vinci, being the only resonator still able to fight went to cast another Corrente Electrica.  
  
“L'onda di tempesta, Accelerando!” The finally heard the maestro’s voice. However, it was too late. The large man pulled a massive amount of water from the nearby lake, creating a practical river that swept the tightly knit group off their feet like a hurricane rolling through. The artificial storm surge didn’t hurt them from the spell imposed on them, but the rate at which the water carried them out squashed any chance of resistance.  
  
They were thrown out of the dome of fog like yesterday’s garbage, completely soaked and just generally embarrassed at their performance. Before anyone could scramble back in to the fight however the fog began to lift. As the fog receded, they got a good look at the enemy who trounced them so easily. The blue clad military man smirking with his arms folded across his chest, and a woman, with a long rifle on her back, holding the Sea Bell in her hand giving it a small jingle before they too faded away with the fog. 


	64. Chapter 64

Blakki sat at Shouri’s side, gripping the fabric of her pants tightly. They were in a hospital room, Shouri was conscious, but remained quiet. He still didn’t feel too hot. Rebecca was also having difficulty breathing, but they were in a separate room.  
  
The silence continued for some time until the doctor entered the room. He tapped the door twice to announce his presence.  
  
“Él estará bien.” The doctor started looking at the clipboard in his hand. “Mal de montaña agudo: Es la forma más común de esta afección.” Blakki nodded slowly at the doctor’s words, slowly releasing the built up tension. Shouri was okay and that was all that mattered. Truth be told, it kinda made sense that Shouri had elevation sickness given how high up they were. That also explained why Rebecca was having difficulty breathing.  
  
“Les daré algunas pastillas para ayudar con las náuseas.” Walking over to one of the cabinets, he pulled out a small bottle and a paper cup. Tapping out a couple of pills into the cup, he handed it to Shouri, and got a small cup of water for the boy.  
  
“Sólo trata de tomarlo con calma, ¿de acuerdo?” The doctor smiled at Shouri, who glared at the two pills in the tiny cup.  
  
“What’s this Blakki?”  
“He said it’s to help with the nausea. He also told you to take it easy.” Shouri continued to stare at the pills. He set the water down on the nightstand and moved his hand to his waist. “Purifica L'anima, staccato.”  
  
Blakki blinked, feeling Shouri’s rhythm link with her. “Why?”  
“In case it’s poison.”  
“You worry too much.” She shook her head, rolling her eyes at her maestro’s unfound paranoia. Turning to the doctor, the fox-girl smile. “Gracias doctor, ha sido usted muy amable.”  
  
“No hay problema, que tenga un buen día.” And with that the doctor departed, leaving the pair to their freedom.  
  
Shouri stood up, after having taken the pills. “Not gonna sotto?”  
“Might be slow acting poison.”  
“Sei sciocco, Sho.”  
  
“How are you two doing?” Colette asked as Shouri and Blakki walked into the lobby. “’bout as ok as I can be after literally vomiting in the middle of a fight and losing a priceless artifact.” Shouri grumbled. Blakki rubbed her partner’s back reassuringly. “How’s Rebecca?”  
  
“She’s fine. She told me they’re giving her some oxygen right now; she should be fine in a bit.” Colette replied gripping her tuner tightly.  
  
The group of three remained silent for a moment. “Where’s Sonia and Vinci?” Shouri finally asked.  
  
“She said they were going back to the hotel.”  
“Were they alright?”  
“They looked fine to me.”  
“I see.”  
  
\---  
  
“It’s not your fault Vinci.”  
  
The seamstress and her resonator sat in their hotel room. Vinci laid on the bed, curled up around one of the pillows. The boy gritted his teeth, pulling his hat in front of his face. “You did everything you could.” Sonia continued.  
  
“I should have been stronger Nini…” He spoke from inside his hat, his voice a few octaves higher. Sonia looked down, sitting in the desk chair provided by the hotel. “No, I’ve been holding you back if I-”  
  
“NINI!”  
  
She looked up, shocked to see her resonator glaring at her. “You made the right calls.” His glare faded as he lowered his head. “I was just too weak to be effective. They mopped the floor with us.” The boy muttered.  
  
Silence  
  
“…I’m scared.” Sonia hesitated for a moment before continuing to speak. “I-I want to help Shouri and Blakki, even Rebecca and Colette. I just don’t think we’re in our league.” The girl admitted quietly. The room returned to the void of silence once again as they both sat in the respective positions, lost in thought.  
  
Vinci bit his bottom lip. “I want to get stronger.” He spoke up. Sonia slowly raised her head, having been fighting the tears that wanted to spill over the entire time. “I don’t know exactly what happened in your past, but I know family means the world to you.” She nodded slowly in response. Vinci lowered his gaze for a moment, carefully thinking over his words. When he found his conviction, his eyes met his partner’s. “Frankly, I’m honored that you consider me family.”  
  
The hot tears finally began to spill over Sonia’s eyes, quickly streaming down her face as she stared at her resonator quietly.  
  
“I want to get stronger to protect our small family.” He declared adamantly, his eyes glowing a vibrant blue as he spoke.  
  
\---  
  
“Are you sure Sho?” Blakki asked as they walked down the stairs into the hotel lobby. “You said you felt some scherzando around here. I want to practice those crescendo spells.” They both came to a stop at the bottom of the steps. “We couldn’t hold that shield long enough, and I know with our other spells they get better as we use them.”  
  
“But didn’t Colette say that they could never be as good as the real thing?”  
“Perhaps not, but I know we’re not as good as we could be.”  
  
Blakki smiled. “You work too hard Sho.”  
  
“Like anyone gives me a fuckin’ choice! Sahji owes me a sword free wish when this is all said and done.” The boy complained as they walked out of the hotel.  
  
Colette stood at the top of the steps, watching the pair depart. She pulled her tuner out and pressed down the talk button. “I’m going out for a walk; I’ll be back in a bit.” The maestro flipped the toggle to listen for her resonator’s reply.  
  
“Okay. You need me to come with?”  
“No, if I need you to translate something, I’ll call you.”  
“Be careful.”  
“I will. See you in a bit.”  
  
The red-haired maestro tailed Shouri and Blakki as they walked towards the edge of town. Colette gasped at what she saw: a flock of scherzando – all different builds of birds. “They must have gathered because they felt all of our rhythm.” Shouri commented. "They seem pretty hungry.” Blakki added, taking a moment to stretch.  
  
“Let’s focus on keeping up a wall.” Shouri told his partner. She nodded. “Looks like a lot of small ones.” The vixen noted.  
  
The flock caught sight of the pair standing before them and swooped down in a practical storm of scherzando bodies.  
  
“Bastioni del Ritmo!”  
  
The wall of purple light appeared in front of the pair, halting the advance of the enemy scherzando with their violent collisions against the wall.  
  
“Loro Formato Lunare Lago, Legato!” Shouri barked. Both Blakki and Colette were caught off guard by the declaration of that spell. It was one neither of them recognized. Blakki felt a strange feeling accompanying the normal gentle darkness that accompanied her Lunar spells. A feeling like a drop of water breaking the calm tranquil surface of a metaphorical lake. The drop that caused a torrent to erupt from her very soul.  
  
A ball of ice appeared in the sky and struck down against the enemy scherzando, leaving a trail of ice in its wake like a comet soaring through the sky.  
  
“Wh-what was that spell?”  
“Dunno. I had it in our spell list before we left to come here.”  
“It’s not too strong. Maybe a Piano or a Forte?”  
“Really?! That thing took a fuck ton of rhythm!”  
  
At that point some of the scherzando flock got through the barrier and flew at the pair. “Luce Lunare, Piano Staccato!”  
  
The duo jumped backwards. As Blakki fired off several balls of lunar energy, Shouri swatted away some over zealous scherzando with his rhythm-soaked fists.  
  
Colette merely watched the pair fight their way back through the crowd of rhythm eating creatures before they set up their barrier again. They paid more careful attention the second go around, replacing the barrier when it began to fade or show wear.  
  
The maestro watched her companions do this for about an hour or so, the duo testing the limits of their spell and when to replace it. Finally seeing enough, she walked back to the hotel, thinking about what she saw. This was how they trained. They figured out things on the fly. They didn’t have fancy classes or raids to test this stuff on. They just had to improvise in the heat of the moment. To figure out their powers, alone with only each other. She understood how they got to be so close in such a relatively short period of time.  
  
“Hey.”  
  
Colette looked up. She had managed to auto-pilot her way back to the hotel room while in thought. Rebecca stared at her maestro. “What’s up?”  
  
“I think I’m starting to understand why Shouri and Blakki are so strong.”  
“What’s that?”  
“I think… cause they don’t know what they should be limited by, they just try stuff out and see what works for them.”  
“Kinda like that Legato spell we got?”  
  
The maestro looked at her tuner. That was the spell she had highlighted at the moment. Something totally unknown to her. Something she had never heard or read about.  
  
“When we get back to Sonia’s place, I think I want to train with you, from scratch.”  
  
Rebecca grinned toothily. “Sure!”  
  
\---  
  
The next morning the group of six met in the lobby of the hotel. Shouri and Blakki looked dead exhausted. Colette and Rebecca looked groggy, but just functional enough to not need adult supervision. Finally, Sonia and Vinci were the only pair that actually looked well rested.  
  
“What’s with you two?” Rebecca asked, failing to stifle a yawn.  
  
“The usual.” Shouri mumbled.  
“Scherzando.” Blakki clarified.  
  
“Well at least you can sleep on the plane.” Colette suggested. The exhausted pair simply nodded slowly. “Vinci and I can handle the scherzando when we get home.” Sonia spoke up suddenly. The other four turned to her. “We want to get stronger.” Vinci added in. “So please. Let us take care of them for a while.”  
  
Shouri was too tired to argue. “You better not end up on my doorstep.” He grumbled.  
  
“I don’t want to hear that from YOU of all people!” Sonia barked at the other maestro.  
  
\---  
  
“You LOST the Sea Bell?!”  
  
The group of six remained quiet as Sahji towered over them. It had been a day since they had returned to the states and they wanted to relax before getting this verbal lashing.  
  
“Losing one isn’t too bad. As long as we have the advantage when all seven wake up it should be fine.” Blaze commented.  
  
Shouri shot a nasty glare at the wish sage, who was wearing an innocent smile. The maestro turned his attention to the one orchestra member they did have possession of. “Sahji’s not gonna tell us how this shit works, elaborate.”  
  
“Sahji at least told you what we do right?”  
“He said Lord Cievo used you all to help shape the universe.” Colette chimed in.  
  
The phoenix-girl shot a disapproving frown at the wish sage, who now whistled innocently and looked away. “The Orchestra of heaven, when assembled, can open any portal to any universe. Think of us like a teleportation cheat.” Blaze explained.  
  
“Then what do the Noble Swords want with you all then?” Sonia asked.  
  
Blaze frowned, folding her arms across her chest. “That’s the question of the hour.” She sighed. “At any rate, the Noble Swords represent rebellion against established systems. That could mean the government of our world, or they could be trying to go against the sages.” Blaze pondered aloud.  
  
“Couldn’t we just convince the Sea Bell to come to our side?” Blakki proposed.  
“No, since they claimed him from the boundary cloud, he probably imprinted on the Noble Swords like I did with you all.” Blaze replied.  
“What the heck does that mean?” Rebecca asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
“They became friends.” Shouri rolled his eyes, leaning back against the table that was behind him.  
“More like the registered owner, but same idea.” Blaze chuckled.  
  
“At any rate, if they get more than three of the instruments, it won’t matter, once the seventh member is awakened, all of us will join whoever has majority possession of the Orchestra, whether we want to or not.” The phoenix girl said grimly.  
  
“But if we manage to get four…” Sonia trailed off.  
  
“You won’t have to bother going out to collect any more.” Sahji smiled. “Have any others awoken?” He turned his attention to their one Orchestra member.  
  
“Not yet. I’ll let you know as soon as I sense it.”  
  
\---  
  
“Lanciafiamme, Pianissimo!” Rebecca fell out of the way of a charging bull shaped scherzando and unleashed a small scream of fire on the enemy.  
  
The fire resonator scrambled to her feet, keeping her eyes on the bull. “I know you said you wanted to start from scratch but this is nuts!” The vixen shouted at her maestro. “Just bear with it!” Colette shouted.  
  
“Easy for you to say!” Rebecca barked back at her maestro.  
“Look out!”  
  
The vixen ignited her heels and took to the sky, just in time to dodge the bull’s charge. “At least I still have this.” The fire resonator grumbled. “Bolide, Pianissimo!” Came the shout from the ground. Rebecca chased after the scherzando pouring fire down on it when she got close. The bull seemed to charge through the flames, smoking slightly from the singeing inflicted on it, but wasn’t deterred from its target:  
  
“Colette!”  
  
The maestro went to move but for a moment everything went back to being on top of that mountain, and the bears charging her. The girl’s eyes went wide as she paled.  
  
“COLETTE!”  
  
When the panicking maestro came to, she was in Rebecca’s arms, several feet in the air. “R-rebecca…” Colette whimpered, still trembling slightly. “I think we need to end this sooner rather than later, training be damned.” The vixen advised. “B-bolide, Forte…”  
  
Somehow managing to cradle Colette with a single arm, Rebecca unleashed a stream of fire that engulfed the bull, finally finishing it off. When the coast was clear, the fire resonator landed on the ground, but immediately collapsed, dropping Colette onto the ground with her.  
  
The pair laid there for a moment, Colette still in PTSD mode, and Rebecca in pain from overexertion of both her muscles and her powers. “G-give me your tuner Colette.” Rebecca moaned. The maestro wasn’t paying attention however, as tears streamed down her face. “Damn it, why now?” The resonator allowed her face to fall into the dirt.  
  
\---  
  
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” Shouri complained audibly as he and Blakki ran through town; it was around three in the morning and they had been woken up by a call from Rebecca. “I didn’t sense anything too powerful.” Blakki shouted to her maestro. “Rebecca said something about Colette freaking out. Damn it all! This is why I just do shit myself!” He barked.  
  
“Va tutto bene, dai calmati, amor mio.”  
  
It wouldn’t take long for them to find the originator of the distress call in question. Rebecca was sitting up against a nearby tree, Colette leaning against her; completely in a daze.  
  
“Sorry.” Rebecca hung her head in shame.  
  
“Va tutto bene. Are you two okay?”  
  
Rebecca cast a concerned gaze towards her maestro. “Dunno. She just kinda froze when the scherzando charged her. I’ve never seen her do that before.” The fire resonator spoke quietly. Colette herself remained silent, staring blankly out into space.  
  
Shouri nodded slowly, he scanned Rebecca, eventually resting on her feet, they were practically burnt to a crisp, her shoes and socks totally burned away. Blakki caught sight of her boyfriend’s gaze and nodded, kneeling down next to the injured resonator.  
  
“Purifica L'anima.”  
  
The healer of the group held out her hands, a soft glow emitting from her palms. The heat from the injury faded as the singeing caused by overuse of Rebecca’s class skill was healed away.  
  
“La Bella Vita, Lento.”  
  
The waves of soothing light washed over the girl’s scorched feet, after a moment of basking in the Lento level healing spell the burnt skin was restored back to its original pristine condition. The fire resonator stared at her own healed body. She sighed and leaned her head back against the tree, her tired red eyes slowly fell towards Colette. “I’m sorry I’m so weak.” She whispered to her torpid maestro.  
  
Blakki’s ears twitched, her lips falling to a frown as she stood up. Shouri placed a hand on his partner’s head as he stared at the crestfallen pair sitting in front of them. 


	65. Chapter 65

“This fucking sucks.” Shouri complained as usual, falling into bed. He closed his eyes to rest for a moment. Blakki sat on the bed next to him. “You said this place is pretty popular Sho?” She asked for clarification.  
  
“Popular?” The boy chuckled. “This is literally one of the most famous places on earth!” He complained loudly.  
 _  
“The Crystal Drum is about to awaken. Its location is in the place known as the “Great Sphinx of Giza”.”_ Shouri opened his eyes, recalling the conversation they had at Sahji’s only a couple days prior.  
  
Blakki fretted a bit. “When you say popular-“  
“Hundreds of people visit daily, if not thousands. It’s one of the oldest structures that is still on this planet.” He clarified.  
  
“How are we supposed to get the Crystal Drum then?” Blakki asked.  
“Question of the hour.” The boy grumbled.  
  
They sat in silence for a moment. “You wouldn’t happen to be able to turn invisible again would you?” Blakki pondered that thought before focusing. She closed her eyes, even going as far as to hold her breath. However, when she opened her eyes, she could still see herself in the mirror, fox ears and all. “I’m gonna have to say no.” She replied, releasing her held breath.  
  
“Damn.” The boy turned on his side in a huff. “We’ll get up early and try to beat the crowds. Last thing I want to do is get arrested by the Egyptian government because they think I’m trying to steal a mummy or something.”  
  
The vixen plopped down on the bed next to her maestro, joining him in staring at the ceiling. “Life is hard.” She decided.  
  
“That’s for sure.” The boy chuckled.  
  
\---  
  
Morning soon arrived in the bustling Egyptian tourist destination and the group of six were huddled just outside the Great Sphinx of Giza. The sun had yet to rise but the sky was slowly beginning to brighten, dawn would be upon them shortly. They had arrived early enough so that there weren’t many people around. Only a couple of early risers were wandering around and even then they were mostly keeping to themselves.  
  
“Woah…” Sonia gasped, catching sight of the stone beast in the distance. Even with the minimal light afforded by the still rising sun, the legendary monument still stood proudly amongst the sand dunes of the Egyptian landscape. “I never thought I’d see the Great Sphinx.”  
  
“But we fought one before.” Vinci pointed out. “It shot sunlight at us.” Blakki chimed in.  
  
Sonia chuckled, with a smirk. “Consider this dear canines: that sphinx was made well before modern technology, and we didn’t have kemonomimi with magical powers to do the heavy lifting.” She told the two canine-resonators.  
  
“How’d they do it then?” Blakki inquired innocently enough.  
“Let’s just say the old kings had their own band of Non-magical resonators.” Shouri spoke up immediately.  
“…oh.” The lunar resonator replied, ears flattening. She understood her maestro’s implication loud and clear.  
  
The group fell to silence. Vinci coughed to break up the silence but for a moment.  
  
Inexplicably (at least to the outside observer) a cloud of fog began to form in the arid desert landscape.  
  
“Fuck, that’s our cue!” Shouri barked, hoping over the small wall they had huddled near. Blakki, not missing a beat, was right behind her maestro.  
  
Colette and Sonia both hesitated as they watched the Lunar pair run straight into the thick of it. “How is it so easy for them?” Sonia asked, biting her bottom lip in frustration. Truth be told, she was still nervous; while Shouri and Blakki ran in, so much more practiced than her.  
  
“They just plain trust each other.” Rebecca said simply as she stood up. “Can’t let them show us up.” The vixen smirked, jumping over the wall. Colette ran around the wall, and Vinci helped his own maestro over the small wall.  
  
The quartet stopped just shy of Shouri and Blakki as the out of place fog cloud enveloped them. It expanded out encompassing a small space nearby. In the center of the small arena created by the fog an amber-colored drum laid just poking out of the sand.   
  
On the opposite end stood a man and woman. The woman held a rifle in her hands, Shouri could make out a tuner embedded into the side of the weapon. It was the same maestro-resonator pair that had taken the sea bell from them a week or so ago.  
  
“Evening folks!” The man waved.  
  
The group of six remained on edge, glaring at the water-resonator. “Aw, don’t be that way.” The man chuckled. “Since I figure we’re gonna be gettin’ pretty close here in the next few minutes, some introductions are in order. I’m Aster.” He pointed to the woman next to him. “She’s my maestro, Kiki.” The woman responded by leveling her rifle in the direction of the young adults.  
  
“That’s a rhythm rifle.” Colette muttered. “A what?” Shouri whispered back.  
  
“It’s a gun that converts rhythm into bullets. They’re pretty much all antiques at this point, but that one looks basically brand new.” She quickly informed her uncultured companion. “It just shoots rhythm right?” The male maestro asked. Colette nodded quickly.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Forte Staccatissimo!”  
“Bolide, Piano!”  
“Corrente Elettrica, Forte!”  
  
“La Tempesta di Neve!”  
  
The trio of attacks from Shouri’s camp all flew towards the enemy pair. However there was still the matter of Kiki’s command. Right before the attacks would have hit their mark, the entire dome was engulfed in a snowstorm. The speed at which the snowstorm became the dominant weather was incredible and took the group by surprise. Did their attacks even land, or were they engulfed by the sudden fury of winter?  
  
BANG BANG  
  
They wouldn’t have time to reflect on that as shots began to rang out in the dome. Blakki stood in front of the group, holding up a barrier. She watched the shots bounce off the wall of lunar light, the first shot cracked the entire barrier and the second shattered a chunk off the top of it like glass.  
  
“Damn those rounds are strong.” Shouri cursed.  
“We can clear the weather, but I’d have to drop maintaining the barrier for a moment to do it.” Blakki told her maestro. He nodded back, glancing at his spell list. Their ultimate level spell was currently highlighted.  
  
“Raggia del Sahara!”  
  
The snowstorm faded away and a harsh sunlight penetrated the dome of fog. Aster stopped in his tracks, having been slowly advancing. Kiki looked surprised that the weather had been changed on them. Blakki took the initiative, dropping the wall of lunar energy to chuck several balls of Forte-level Luce Lunare at Aster. He ended up taking the first volley of the basic lunar spell before he jumped away from the successive attacks.  
  
BANG BANG  
  
Another couple of rounds were dodged by the group. Colette glared at the woman who laid in the sand with her weapon. “Rebecca aim at that rifle! Bolide, Forte!” Colette called out. Rebecca nodded and began charging up her fire spell, ready to take out the annoying sniper that was rapidly becoming a nuisance.  
  
“L'onda di tempesta, Rallentando!”  
  
Before Rebecca could finish her spell a line of water rose from the sand, with Shouri, Blakki, and Rebecca all caught within it. Rebecca cancelled the spell she was about to cast to focus on keeping her footing. While the three caught in the river had braced themselves to be pushed out again, they were all taken by surprise when the water began to flow towards the caster in question, catching them all entirely off guard. Shouri and Blakki fell over each other as they suddenly lost balance. Rebecca barely managed to hold herself up. However, the Lunar-duo were fortunate they fell as they were just out of the way of the next command:  
  
“Idrante, Fortissimo!”  
  
Rebecca ate a huge blast of water, propelling her out of the river and to the edge of the fog barrier. With its caster taken out, the harsh sunlight faded back into a neutral weather pattern in the battle dome. “Rebecca!” Colette broke rank and ran to her resonator. Scrambling to his feet, Shouri glanced back; he had to make the call: “Dominio-“  
  
“Sho!”  
  
BANG!  
  
Blakki tackled her maestro to the ground, narrowly avoiding a rhythm bullet, but interrupting the cast of the ultimate level healing spell.  
  
BANG BANG BANG  
  
The duo had managed to roll their way behind a small sand dune and were totally pinned down by the sniper. Sonia just stared, watching how quickly this was falling out of their control again. There were six of them versus the sniper and her resonator, and with favorable conditions this time around they were still on the back foot. Shouri and Blakki were flat against the sand, holding each other down to try and avoid the barrage of sniper rounds eating away at their sand dune. Colette was far from the battle, trying to revive Rebecca.  
  
And Sonia herself?  
  
She wasn’t doing anything, _again. Useless._  
  
“Sonia!”  
  
The girl snapped to. Vinci had a hold of her shoulders. “We need to do _something_!” He hissed at his maestro. She nodded slowly, stealing a look at her spell list, she has so many spells that did so many different things. How could she string them together to do something productive?  
  
Aster meanwhile was slowly walking over to where the Crystal Drum was poking out of the sand. He smirked, bending down and picking it up. He took his time to dust the sand off. “Hello there lovely.” The man chuckled.  
  
“Flusso del Vento, Piano!”  
  
The man side stepped away from a blade of wind that slammed into the sand nearby. He turned to the assailant: Sonia and Vinci, who were running at him.  
  
“Oh, forgot about you.” The man looked down on the reckless null pair. “Guardando il Sole, Adagio!” He closed his eyes just in time as a bright ball of light shone from Vinci’s hand. That spell would have blinded him if he didn’t recognize it. But that was all part of Sonia’s plan. Her intention was never to blind the resonator, it was to make him think that was their goal.  
  
“Tuono Assordante, Fortissimo!”  
  
Aster’s ears bled as clap of thunder hit his form. Given his element, the lightning spell even when cast by a Null dealt significant damage. The worst part was he couldn’t hear now, meaning any spells cast by Kiki wouldn’t reach him. He knew he was toast, so rather than face the next spell and lose the instrument he had picked up, he turned and chucked the Crystal Drum to his maestro. Right as he did so, he was hit by Sonia’s next spell:  
  
“Corrente Elettrica, Forte!”  
  
The sniper naturally heard the sounds of the struggle and had re-positioned to try and take out Sonia instead. As her partner fell into the dirt below, her targets became plainly visible.  
  
Kiki narrowed her eye as the reticle was positioned over Sonia’s head. She steadied her breathing making sure her shot would hit its mark. Sonia and Vinci still ran towards her and the Crystal Drum that laid just a couple of feet away in the sand. “Pasticcio-“  
  
BANG  
  
“RALLENTANDO!”  
  
The sniper’s eyes went wide as she watched her rhythm bullet get dampened by a wave of sound emitted by the Null-element resonator. She had gotten played. Sonia knew she would be a target next, so she was already aiming to dampen, or nullify the rhythm-based bullet.  
  
And it worked. Hastily, Kiki aimed another shot.  
  
click  
  
Click?  
  
click click click  
  
Nothing was happening. It was at that moment she realized something: her tuner was missing. Blakki stood on the sand dune, holding the woman’s tuner in her hand. “Volontà Estesa…” She gritted her teeth, frustrated that they had been outmaneuvered so thoroughly. She went to grab the Crystal Drum, but that too was pulled just out of her reach by the Lunar class skill.  
  
Kiki sighed. They had been beaten. Looking over, it appeared Aster was fading away. She lowered her head, noting that she too was starting to fade away. Looks like the boundary cloud had recognized the winner.  
  
However, something unexpected happened.  
  
A new challenger burst into the cloud of fog.  
  
“What the-?!” Before anyone could figure out what was happening, Blakki was slammed by a hard, reptilian tail and flew backwards into Shouri. The pair tumbled back down the sand dune they had been standing on as the assailant flew free of the boundary cloud.  
  
The fog lifted as the group looked upon their assailants. A man with spiky red hair stood atop the Great Sphinx. A resonator with long red hair and draconic wings and tail landed next to him, holding the Crystal Drum she had liberated from Blakki.  
  
It was Lyle and Liza, the pair that had threatened to execute them. Denizens of the other world. Unlike the last two maestro-resonator pairs, these two were existing perfectly fine out of the fog cloud.  
  
Upon meeting eyes with their assailants, Shouri and Blakki fell into an odd unison. They both began breathing a little heavier. Their eyes narrowed as they focused entirely on their enemy. Blakki’s tail bristled up, Shouri’s grip around his tuner tightened to such an extent that his knuckles turned pure white from the pressure. They were both on their toes ready to move at a moments notice.  
  
But before another fight could break out, the Dragon resonator grabbed her partner and they flew away, Crystal Drum in hand.  
  
Blakki, even knowing the futility of doing so still angrily lobbed several balls of Luce Lunare in the direction of the fleeing pair.  
  
Despite winning the skirmish, ultimately they had lost where it counted.   
  
“Shouri! Blakki!” The duo snapped out of it when Sonia’s voice reached their ears. It took a moment, but the pair calmed down, turning to each other. “What was that?” Shouri muttered. “I dunno…’ Blakki mumbled back. They decided focusing on their friends was probably the healthier thing to do.  
  
Walking over, Rebecca had yet to re-awaken, her hair was halfway white. “Jeeze, that did a number.” Shouri noted.  
  
“Yeah, water is more effective against Fire elementals. I should have ordered Rebecca to hang back and support you guys.” Colette lamented over her choices during the battle.  
  
“Dominio degli angeli, Ultrissimo.” Shouri casually recited the Ultimate-level spell.  
  
“Eh? Why?” Colette looked up, instantly feeling a rush of energy hit her body.  
  
Shouri knelt next to Blakki, who was in her praying position she took while using the Ultimate spell. “I didn’t get to use it during the battle.” As the sparkles of healing light descended on them, he looked up at the sky, basking in the warmth it provided. “I need something to calm me down right now too.” He muttered.


	66. Chapter 66

“Hey Rebecca.”  
“Yeah Colette?”  
  
The other-worldly pair sat in their room they were “renting” from Sonia. It was a few days after the incident in Egypt and life had returned to its usual monotony. The pair was getting ready for bed for the night, Sonia and Vinci would handle the scherzando tonight.  
  
“Is it just me or have Shouri and Blakki been acting kinda weird lately?”  
Rebecca looked over lowering her brow. “What do you mean?” She asked accusatorily.  
“Ah, no, it’s not about them dating!” Colette sat up. She lowered her gaze. “I’ve been catching myself watching them recently, and it’s just like they’re weirdly synchronized.” She noted.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
“Well like, there are plenty of times where they’re wearing the same facial expression. I thought I was crazy, so I was watching them today and when it happened, they were even breathing at the same time.” Colette explained.  
  
“Hrm…” Rebecca frowned, skeptical of the claim.  
“I’m serious! Look, just watch them when we go over tomorrow.”  
  
The pair laid back down, silent.  
  
“Hey, didn’t Professor Iscariot mention something about their rhythm pulling towards each other?” Rebecca suddenly spoke up.  
  
Colette rose once again, turning to her resonator. “Yeah, Sonia said the same thing to me at one point.” She stroked her chin in thought. “I wonder if their rhythm is so connected that they’re subconsciously mimicking each other.”  
  
“Maybe yeah.” Rebecca nodded in agreement.  
  
Laying back down Colette couldn’t help but think about the situation. She would lay in bed for hours while Rebecca slept next to her, lost in her thoughts. She eventually fell asleep, unable to fight her exhaustion any further.  
  
 _“The hero spoke as two, the author spoke as one. If you find out what that means, then you’ll find out what Maestros and Resonators truly are.”_  
  
Colette sat up suddenly. It was morning now. Despite that, Rebecca was still fast asleep. The maestro couldn’t remember anything about her dream, but what she did recall were Noir’s words. What Maestros and Resonators truly are? She hadn’t been able to dedicate any time to really thinking about that until now. From her experience Ethereals tended to speak in riddles, and this was just another one she’d have to figure out.  
  
Her mind had been on Shouri and Blakki the night before and her subconscious brought those words to the front of her mind for a reason. She sat on the edge of the bed trying to think about what she really knew about the Lunar duo.  
  
-They met by chance one day  
-They were from this world  
-Blakki has amnesia of the other world  
-They have a strong connection, even stronger than anyone else in this world  
  
There definitely was something special about the pair, there just wasn’t enough information she had to figure it out. Colette forced her rhythm in an attempt to dredge up something from the depths of her mind.  
  
“Jorgelina Martinez…” she whispered to herself. The girl who was partially responsible for sending them all to this world in the first place. Shouri had mentioned something about her going missing from this world. Picking up her tuner from its resting place on the nightstand, she began to search for anything on the mysterious girl.  
  
As Colette would find the name “Jorgelina Martinez” was quite a common name in this world. She fiddled around with her search queries until something popped up that piqued her interest.  
  
 _“Three People Killed in Northern California House Fire.”  
_  
It was dated two years ago, which is around the time Shouri mentioned Lina’s disappearance. She hesitantly clicked the article  
  
 _“CALIFORNIA - - A man and two women were killed in a fire on Tuesday morning.  
  
Officials said the fire on the 100 block of Vernon Avenue was isolated to the single home and started around 1AM. on August 31st.   
  
Firefighters arrived to the two-story home near Snowden Road and New Botolph Street and were told people might be inside. In the home, a 17-year-old and 19-year-old were evacuated from the home. Three others were unable to be rescued before the home collapsed. The three others were pronounced dead on the scene.  
  
The deceased were one James Tomoshibi and his wife Lila Tomoshibi. The third victim was a minor and their name has been omitted for privacy.”_  
  
Colette furrowed her brow. This had to be it. The third victim was listed as a minor so her name wasn’t given. The maestro wasn’t sure of Shouri and Lina’s relationship. They were obviously good friends, even though Lina had lost her memories, she still got along with Shouri quite well.  
  
“…hmm.”  
  
Rebecca awoke several hours later. “Get dressed.” Was the first thing the fire resonator heard from her maestro that morning.  
  
“Ehh?”  
“We’re going to the graveyard.”  
“…the fuck girl…?”  
  
\---  
  
Colette and a still slightly groggy Rebecca walked down the quiet city streets of the town they were staying at. The only sounds were the helpful GPS lady that was giving them directions to their destination. They stopped in front of a well-worn iron wrought fence. A plainly labeled cemetery laid before them.  
  
Rebecca yawned. “Why are we at the ol’ boneyard again?” The vixen asked.  
  
“We’re looking for someone.” Colette said plainly, pushing the squeaking gates open and walking in. “Who the fuck would we even know here?” Rebecca muttered to herself. Nevertheless, she followed her maestro in. The pair wandered around seemingly lost among the many tombstones that marked the small plot of land. Rebecca took a look around; it was so odd that the cemetery was just stuffed in the middle of all these large buildings. It felt so out of place to her.  
  
“Ah, here we are.” Colette’s voice snapped Rebecca out of her thoughts. The fox-girl walked over to see who the mystery plot belonged to.  
  
“Jorgelina Martinez  
2000-2017”  
  
“She was pretty young.” Rebecca noted. She read the name several more times. “That name is really familiar.” The resonator furrowed her brow, folding her arms across her chest. “She’s Effy’s maestro.” Colette said pensively focusing on the slab of stone before them.  
  
Rebecca stared blankly at the grave. “Huh…” The gears spent their time turning as the knowledge-weak resonator processed her maestro’s words. “OH!” She suddenly gasped out. “Wait! That was-”  
  
“Two years ago. Lina died two years ago.”  
“But wait, how? Maybe she went missing and they thought she was dead?”  
“They pulled her body out of a burned down house. There was a funeral.”  
  
The resonator closed her mouth, having been shut up by Colette’s research into this matter. “What the hell? Who the hell did we meet in our world then?!” Rebecca shouted at her maestro.  
  
Silence  
  
Beep beep beep beep beep  
  
The pair lowered their gaze to the tuner at Colette’s side. The maestro grabbed the device and eyed the caller ID. It simply was listed as “151-250”  
  
Switching on the speaker, Colette hesitantly pressed answer.  
  
“You shouldn’t look any further into this if you’d like to continue breathing.”  
Colette and Rebecca paled. “Wh-why?!” The maestro barked, not appreciating the thinly veiled threat  
“The destiny of those who cross should only be done through self-discovery. You two are the sole exceptions. Should you over-step your authority, I may have to end your existence early.”  
“Who the hell are you?!” Rebecca barked.  
“In this conversation, I suppose you might say I’m like a Janitor; cleaning up loose ends.”  
Colette trembled, staring at the tuner.  
“Please don’t waste your life, it’s so short as is.”  
  
Click  
  
The call ended abruptly. The maestro trembled, not with fear, but with anger. “You really think I can just let it go now?” Her grip tightened around her tuner as she continued to shake from rage.  
  
Rebecca frowned hard. “Still though, who the hell was that?” She asked.  
Colette turned and began to walk away. “Dunno, don’t care. Come on Rebecca. There’s a couple more things I want to look into.”  
  
The fire-resonator glanced back to the tombstone. She sighed. “I dunno if it was really you in our world, but either way, thanks for saving us.” She told the grave before turning to follow her maestro.  
  
\---  
  
It was another day at Renoir’s Apparel, and Sonia was opening up shop for the day. “Vinci, what does my schedule look like?” The business woman asked of her partner. “The morning is pretty free, but you have several clients back to back in the afternoon for fittings.” Vinci told his maestro, studying their schedule for the day.  
  
“What kinds of fittings?”  
“That anime convention in the next town over is this weekend, so several costumes. There’s also that mayor’s aide coming here for her suit.”  
“Oh yeah. I should prep the materials for that one. She’s paying extra for it to be rushed.”  
“Speaking of, don’t forget about that wedding dress you got commissioned.”  
“Shoot! I actually did! Thanks for the reminder; I think I’ll get some work done on that this morning.”  
“Do you need me to make breakfast?”  
“Please.”  
  
And with that, the pair broke off. Vinci to the kitchen, Sonia to the workroom in the back of the shop. Mornings were traditionally pretty slow for them, so they didn’t really need anyone manning the counter. The bell at the front was loud enough for one of them to hear it should it chime.  
  
As Sonia began her work for the day, she let her mind wander. This was normal for her as garment construction wasn’t a difficult task for her; in fact, it was quite menial despite the quality of clothing she produced.  
  
Something that was on her mind this morning was Colette and Rebecca. They had come from the other world – Vinci’s world. Yet, despite being what you might consider alien; they behaved like any other people from this world. Sure, there were plenty of things that confused them, but those were mostly cultural things which could easily be passed off by saying “oh they’re just from another country”  
  
Their clothes were pretty normal too. She wouldn’t admit it, but when Sonia heard Shouri tell her he brought two people from the other world over, she was hoping they’d have more outlandish outfits. But no, they dressed and talked normally. It was kinda boring to be totally honest.   
  
“Oh hey, you’re making pretty good progress.”  
  
Sonia left her thoughts, inspecting the dress she was weaving. It was coming together nicely, though she had just gotten lost in her own thoughts while working, again not a rare thing to happen, and not a problematic behavior. It did always surprise her how much work she got done when she wasn’t really paying attention. At any rate Vinci came bearing food, and for that she would take a well-deserved break. Using the work space as a makeshift cafeteria, the pair quietly ate their breakfast, that is until they heard the front door bell chime, indicating they had a potential customer.  
  
“I got it.” Vinci set his plate down and rushed out.”  
  
Sonia smiled, admiring the breakfast prepared by her dear resonator. She felt truly blessed to have him in her life. Sure, there were hard days; but the amount of good he brought into her life. Vinci returned a couple minutes later. “Was just Rebecca and Colette.” He seemed a bit bothered though.  
  
“What’s up?” Sonia frowned slightly.  
“They both looked a bit shaken up, but they refused to talk to me.”  
  
“Odd.” Sonia set her own food down, getting to her feet. “I’ll go talk to them.”  
  
Heading upstairs, she found the door to the guest bedroom locked. Before she knocked, she paused, thinking through what she would say. The maestro focused on her rhythm, bright red spiritual flames igniting around her fists.  
  
KNOCK KNOCK  
  
“YES!?” A frightened yelp came from Colette on the other side.  
“Everything alright?”  
“Fine! We’re fine!”  
  
Even without her rhythm, Sonia could tell that was a lie. She closed her eyes, focusing on what she had felt. They didn’t want to talk about it. But whatever happened scared them badly. It was a kind of fear that was.  
  
“If you say nothing, you’ll be fine…” Sonia whispered to herself. “Okay! Just checking in! Let me know if you need anything!”  
  
It hurt to leave them like that, but if they didn’t want to talk about whatever happened, it may be for the best.  
  
\---  
  
“Bastioni del Ritmo.” Shouri said simply, hand over his tuner as he used his computer. Blakki stood in the center of the bedroom, eyes closed. She focused on her maestro’s words, lifting her arms, extending her palms out. She opened her eyes as the wall of lunar energy formed in front of her. Aura happened to walk by and noticed the wall of glowing purple energy.  
  
“What the hell are you two up to?” She asked, leaning on the door frame.  
  
“Casting this spell as many times as possible. It’s still not strong enough.” Shouri said, biting into an apple.  
  
“Do you have to do it in the house?” The elder sibling raised an eyebrow.  
  
Blakki sighed, releasing the spell. She cast her gaze down as the wall began to fade away “We tried casting it at the park…”  
  
\---  
  
Earlier in the day.  
  
“Okay, let’s just do a few reps of the wall. I’ll throw some shit at it and see if we can break it.” Shouri suggested. Blakki nodded eagerly, taking her place in front of her maestro, as if they were in battle.  
  
“Bastioni del Ritmo!”  
  
The wall of lunar energy formed in front of them, standing proudly. “Oh hey, are you setting up a concert here?” A jogger asked seeing the fancy glowing wall of energy.  
  
“Eh no I-” Before poor Blakki could diffuse the situation other random park patrons noticed the strange light show and began to gather to give their commentary on the strange happenings.  
  
“Oh cool, look at that.”  
“Neat. Never seen anything like that.”  
“Are we getting an anime convention here?”  
“Where do I give my money?”  
“It’s the end of days!”  
  
“Toldjya this would happen.” Shouri chuckled, placing a hand on his partner’s shoulder. “Just shut up and cast Nuvola Oscura already.” The girl pouted, her eyes twitching in annoyance from being proven wrong.  
  
\---  
  
Aura nodded, understanding the situation now. “I mean really, what did you expect though?” The sibling chuckled, leaning against the door frame.  
  
“To be fair, we run around every night fighting scherzando, you think they’d be used to it by now.” Blakki sighed, falling back onto the bed. “Bastioni del Ritmo.” Shouri said suddenly. Blakki waved her hand, forming the wall of lunar energy once more.  
  
“So why are you practicing this specifically? You never did that with any of your other spells.” The sibling noted.  
  
“What’s it to you?” Shouri asked, remaining focused on his computer screen.  
“MY name is on the lease, despite Gramps paying our rent. Need to know why you’re possibly trashing the apartment.” Aura countered.  
“We’ve been finding ourselves in need of a sturdy wall more and more often.” Shouri replied.  
“That’s not concerning in the slightest.”  
“Why do you think we’re practicing?”  
“Fair I suppose. How strong is it?”  
“Hit it.”  
  
The woman shrugged and tapped the wall. It felt as solid as brick wall, despite being constructed out of what appeared to be light. “Seems solid.” She commented. “I said hit it.” Shouri urged. Aura looked around and found an old umbrella sitting nearby. She picked it up and swung it as hard as she could at the wall of light. Her eyes widened as the umbrella bent upon impact, breaking the mechanisms of the make-shift weapon. Blakki released the wall and Aura just stared in shock as it faded away despite having been solid only mere moments ago.  
  
“Seems pretty solid to me.” Aura said with a shrug. She looked to the broken object in her hand, frowning that they were now short one umbrella. She began to walk out of the room to throw out the junked parasol, when she heard someone speak up:  
  
“It’s not strong enough.”  
  
The woman stopped. Who said that? It sounded like both Shouri and Blakki spoke in unison.  
  
“We have to keep going.”  
  
They were talking in unison! She slowly turned around. Blakki was sitting on the bed, staring at the ground. Shouri was facing his computer. Neither of them said anything further. It was so odd how perfectly synchronized those statements were.  
  
“Alright, ten more reps Blakki.”  
“Right Sho.”  
  
They went back to it. Aura watched the wall of lunar energy be constructed once more. Something felt off about them, but she couldn’t quite place what it was.


	67. Chapter 67

A thick fog blanketed the English country side. A lone car sailed down the road, its six occupants quiet, all in thought. They were heading to a small bed and breakfast they had reserved for their two day stay here. However, before they could enjoy their vacation in the United Kingdom, they had to take care of business first:  
  
_“The Forest’s Kalimba is located near a great hill known as “Glastonbury Tor.” We’ve already lost two of the Orchestra of Heaven, please do not lose a third.”_  
  
Pulling the car into the driveway of the house they would be staying, the car came to a stop. Shouri cut the engine off, remaining still for a moment. He looked to his partner sitting in the passenger seat. She similarly stared back at him. They both nodded and turned to exit the car. The quartet in the back of the car took that as their cue and similarly filed out of the vehicle they had rented.  
  
“It should be through this patch of trees.” Shouri told the group, stifling a yawn. Some looks were exchanged. Before the group began to walk north, into the trees. A thin layer of threes segregated the nearby houses from the tourist attraction, Glastonbury Tor, or in some circles it was known as “Avalon”. Glastonbury Tor in reality had no magical properties, they wouldn’t find King Arthur here, nor would they find a portal to the land of the dead. No, what they came across was a large hill that stood proudly over the English landscape, with a stone tower at its very peak.  
  
Given how early in the morning it was, there were very few people around. Maybe one or two early risers, but no huge crowds or anything. There was a pathway going up the hill starting on the western face of the hill. Deciding against just running through the grass, the group edged their way around the hill and made their way to the proper footpath.   
  
The tension was high as the group of six climbed the hill in question. They had all prepared for this encounter for the last week and now it was time to see if they were truly ready. As usual Shouri and Blakki were leading the group.  
  
Upon reaching the peak of the hill the three maestros immediately drew out their tuners. Standing in the entranceway of the ancient tower was an all too familiar pair.  
  
The red-haired maestro and his draconic resonator. The very same pair that they fought in the other world. The same pair that took the Crystal Drum from them the week prior. “So we meet again.” Lyle glared confidently, seemingly looking down at the group.  
  
Rebecca and Sonia both immediately felt something from Shouri and Blakki. It was a horrible feeling that radiated so strongly from the pair that Sonia’s rhythm became ever so slightly visible as it wisped off her body. Such an intense, concentrated emotion that it practically crushed the two that were privy to its effects.  
  
Bloodlust.  
  
To say they were seeing red was probably an understatement. The two girls immediately reached out and grabbed the shoulders of Shouri and Blakki, hoping to snap them out of their silent, murderous rage. “Don’t do anything crazy” Sonia advised. “Just stay calm, he’s gonna try to provoke you.” Rebecca added.  
  
“I can’t wait to make him eat dirt.” The two spoke in unison.  
  
Seeing how their usual leadership wasn’t going to say anything productive, Colette stepped forward. “So. You’re still looking for the Forest’s Kalimba?” She inquired.  
  
“What? How did they know we didn’t have it?” Lyle quietly asked his resonator.  
“Probably because we’re still here? If we had it, we would have left already.” Liza replied, narrowing her eyes at her maestro missing the obvious.  
“Fuck, you’re right.” Lyle cursed; he took a moment to recompose himself.  
  
“We figured it’d be easier to deal with you first rather than look for the instrument.” Lyle boasted. Liza grabbed her maestro and took flight. “Come face me!” He shouted as they flew over to a nearby grove.  
  
Shouri and Blakki took the bait and immediately chased after the escaping duo. “WAIT!” Colette barked. The lunar pair came to a stop, their backs towards the rest of the group. “We’re gonna go keep him at bay.” Shouri spoke with a strange evenness to his voice. “You all look for the Forest’s Kalimba. It’s gotta be around here somewhere.” Blakki nodded in agreement. “Getting it is what really matters right now.” She added.  
  
The other maestros were both uneasy about that, especially Sonia who could still feel the intense bloodlust practically dripping off their forms. “Please!” The duo shouted.  
  
Sonia gritted her teeth. This was wrong and she knew it but- “F-fine! We’ll look around here. If we can’t find it up here we’re coming after you!” Colette reluctantly agreed before anyone else could voice an objection.  
  
Shouri and Blakki both nodded, again timed together perfectly and ran towards the woods Lyle and Liza vanished into.  
  
“Was that the right call Colette?” Sonia questioned.  
“I dunno, but I felt something is really wrong with them.” Colette shook her head.  
“Then why did you let them go?!” Vinci barked, looking towards the retreating backs of his companions.  
“…because they were scaring me.” Colette admitted shakily.  
  
Sonia and Rebecca’s eyes met as they shared a hesitant glare. At that moment, the two emotion-strong rhythm users confirmed their suspicions, and fears.  
  
\---  
  
Blakki stayed just ahead of Shouri as they chased their adversaries into the grove.  
  
“Mente Offuscata, Rubato!”  
“Luce Lunare, Rubato!”  
“Riflettore Musicale, Rubato!”  
“Passo Silenzioso, Rubato!”  
  
As the trees whipped by them Shouri armed Blakki with every spell he thought she would feasibly need to fight the dragon maiden, Liza, who was just ahead of them. The fire pair flew straight into the forest, the lunar duo in hot pursuit.  
  
They came to a stop when they came across Lyle and Liza standing near a large stone that laid near a dirt path. “So, you chased us this far.” Lyle chuckled. Shouri and Blakki just glared at their opponents. Liza gulped. Something felt wrong with the pair in front of them. They had fought before, but she wasn’t as oblivious as her maestro. “Lyle, let’s just go all out.” She whispered.  
  
“Absolutely not. They’re not worth our ultimate.” Lyle decided, still not sensing anything amiss. “You dumb fuck.” Liza gritted her teeth, but dropped into stance anyways.  
  
The two resonators faced off, a breeze coming down the hill and through the forest. Liza kicked off the ground and flew at Blakki.  
  
“Arcobaleno Fuoco, Forte!” Lyle called out. Liza held out her hand and a ball of fire flew ahead of her. As soon as it got close to Blakki it exploded like a firework, rainbow coloring and all. However, from the explosion some of the rainbow color flames bounced in Liza’s direction. The dragon girl flipped around, dropping down and sliding on the earth to avoid her own reflected attack.  
  
“Purifica L'anima, Rubato.” She would hear the enemy maestro call out. “I didn’t hear him cast Riflettore Musicale. Is he just activating spells in Rubato and leaving them there?” She muttered to herself as she flew backwards. This was a good strategic decision as Blakki began her counterattack. Liza weaved in and out of various balls of lunar energy that flew in her direction. As soon as she stopped for a moment, she felt a sudden and sharp pain in her head.  
  
“G-gah!” She fell to her knees, clutching her head in pain. “Magifiamma, Legato!” Lyle called out. While still gripping her head, Liza waved her hand in front of her, creating seven balls of purple fire that orbited around her. Blakki’s eyes widened at the spell as every motion of it was burned into her memory. She shook her head trying to refocus. She chucked several Luce Lunare at Liza, who was still recovering from the Mente Offuscata. However, the orbs of purple fire moved out and collided with the lunar spells, negating both attacks in the cross fire.  
  
Seeing his own resonator being pinned down irritated Lyle. He had to switch up tactics: “Tempeste Cenere, Legato!” He called out quickly. Liza focused on casting her spell, which sent a ball of red light into the sky. After a moment, a thick, ash-like fog descended on the battlefield. It became slightly harder to breathe, as the air quickly filled with the distinct scent of ash.  
  
Blakki closed her eyes, to sharpen her hearing in place of her vision. Shouri looked around. The ash was getting thicker and thicker. There was also an ambient heat to it. Lyle had said “Legato” so it was probably another of those weird spells. Come to think of it, he had a weird spell he could use too.  
  
“Saldatura ad Arco, Legato!”  
  
A bolt of lightning came from the fog, which was too quick for Blakki to dodge, she took the hit head on and flew backwards off her feet. The lightning that had hit her was super-hot and ended up giving her a singe. Luckily, she already had Purifica L'anima available for her so she simply cured herself and hopped back up to her feet.  
  
“Saldatura ad Arco, Legato!” A second bolt came, however Blakki was prepared this time and reflected it back at its caster. Since the ash cloud was extra thick and Shouri wasn’t blurting out his strategy, neither Liza nor Lyle saw this coming.  
  
“GAHH!” Liza cried out, being struck by her own attack.  
  
There is was.  
  
“Chiaro cielo di mezzanotte!” Shouri called out. Blakki cleared the ash cloud away, replacing the opposing side’s preferred weather with one of her own. “Loro Formato Lunare Lago, Legato!” Was the follow up command. Blakki formed a ball of ice above her head and it descended on the still recoiling dragon-girl, smashing into her. It seemed to be much more effective than the previous attacks.  
  
“Damn it! Why the fuck do you have the Lunar-Water Ossia!?” Lyle stomped the ground angrily. Liza got to her feet, panting hard. “Could they have done this before?” She asked. “Were we the ones that were about to die in our world?” She glared at the pair in front of them. No, that hateful glare that Shouri and Blakki had maintained the entire battle. They had created the monsters that stood before them.  
  
“Lyle listen to me, we have to end this now!” Liza barked.  
“Fine fine!” Lyle swallowed his pride. “Scintilla di civiltà, Ultrissimo!”  
  
Liza stood up and began to create the fire ultimate, however, she was interrupted by an even more powerful Mente Offuscata, that ripped at her mind. “Aaaaugh! I’m not stopping!” Despite the pain, she managed to continue through her ultimate level spell, casting it on Shouri and Blakki. The vixen turned and tackled Shouri to the ground, the intense, civilization ending heat practically dripping from the attack as it roared overhead. The nearby tree was stripped of all of the rope and ornaments tied around it as the fire ultimate melted all traces of civilization off of it.  
  
“Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto!”  
“Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto!”  
“Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto!”  
“Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto!”  
  
The field practically exploded into a maelstrom of fire as Liza surrounded the downed pair in four rings of fire.  
  
Despite the anger Shouri had been feeling, his pyrophobia finally wore away at his rage and replaced his bloodlust with fear. He grabbed Blakki and held her tightly as the fire roared around them.  
  
“It was a valiant effort, but ultimately useless.” Lyle taunted. Liza sighed. It seemed this was as far as they went. “Okay, let’s make this clean please.” She implored. “Yeah, no more fucking around. We still gotta go deal with the other two maestros.” The man chuckled. Shouri trembled. Blakki held him tightly, the rhythm links from all their Rubato spells were in disarray. She was finding it difficult to try and cast anything. They were trapped.  
  
Liza took to the sky, spotting their quarry among the roaring flames.  
  
“Scintilla di civiltà, Ultrissimo!”  
  
“I’m sorry Blakki, I’m sorry I’m so weak.” Shouri cried into his partner’s chest. “H-hey, that’s my line.” Blakki smiled weakly, refusing to let go of her partner. The heat from the rings of fire was getting to be too much. The number of rings cast around them made it impossible to try and jump over either. Even if her spells were working again, she probably wouldn’t be able to make it through with Passo Silenzioso anyways. “This is so fucking dumb; I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.” She heard Shouri admit as their end drew near. “Me too Sho…”  
  
Liza cast her spell, the column of fire descending would evaporate the small spot they were afforded, it was over.  
  
Before the fire reached them however, Blakki’s hand made its way around Shouri’s tuner hand, linking fingers with his, the tuner between their two hands. “I love you…”  
  
The ultimate level fire spell landed head on, spreading from the point of impact. “Hold it longer! I want to make sure they drown in it!” Lyle shouted, holding a hand over his eyes to shield them from the bright light of the flames. However, something was wrong. There was a light within the fire. “No fucking way…” Lyle gasped. The light faded after a moment as the flames of the civilization burning attack continued. Lyle sighed in relief. “I think we’re good!” He shouted.  
  
Liza nodded, releasing the attack. She immediately descended from the sky, landing on her hands and knees. Lyle rushed over, kneeling down next to his resonator. “You alright?” He asked. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She looked up at the smoke that billowed from the site of the attack. “That took way more effort than I thought.” Lyle admitted. “Ya think?! Next time you should-“  
  
The smoke suddenly cleared, as if sliced in two, which immediately drew the attention of the exhausted duo. They remained staring, speechless at what was before them.  
  
A woman stood among the ashes of that made up the once lush green field. She was dressed in black ornamental robes, behind her flowed nine fox tails. Her long silky white hair tied up into a tight bun, secured by two golden sticks. She slowly opened her eyes, the piercing red orbs slowly looking around, taking in their new surroundings.  
  
“Erediv I. Mus sutalbus amrof tse ceah.” She spoke aloud, her voice carrying a strange echo that reverberated through Liza and Lyle’s very souls.  
  
“Who the fuck are you?!” Lyle barked.  
  
The woman’s fox ears twitched. “Ah, the local language.” She spoke in plain English. “I believe I am here to end your existence.” She pointed at Lyle and Liza. “What?” Lyle narrowed his eyes. He looked around quickly. Seeing no other souls about he sighed in relief, recomposing himself. “You got no maestro.” He chuckled.  
  
Liza rose to her feet, eyeing the new combatant wearily. She couldn’t feel anything from this woman. Normally she could feel some kind of rhythm or something. She was a trained fighter, she had to have ways to size up her opponents. This woman was clearly a resonator, though she had never seen nor heard of a nine tailed fox variety before. There were famous two and three tailed foxes, sure, but never nine.  
  
“Let’s take it easy, and gauge them.” Liza advised her maestro. He nodded slowly, looking at his tuner’s spell list.  
  
“Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto!”  
  
A ring of fire emerged around the woman. She didn’t pay it any mind and just stared at her targets, unflinching, unaffected by what was happening around her. “Pardon my ignorance, I am still getting acclimated to this language. I want to “play a game” as it were.” The woman spoke calmly, totally unfazed by the blaze around her.  
  
“Wh-what kind of game?!” Lyle shouted, trying to keep his cool. The way the woman spoke unnerved him (not that he’d ever admit it.)  
  
The woman seemed to ponder that inquiry for a moment before offering her reply. “It is a simple “game”: You try to stop me. If you cannot cease my progression, I will kill you. I believe that is what is called “fun” in this language.” The woman spoke. Despite what she was saying to the pair standing before her, she spoke in such a monotonous voice that she almost sounded like a robot.  
  
“Kill us?” Liza gulped.  
“All we have to do is stop you? Easy.” Lyle chuckled.  
“Lyle wait, something is seriously wrong here.” The fire resonator turned to her maestro.  
  
“The “game” starts now.” The woman walked through the fire, dispersing it with her first step.  
  
“No time! Lanciafiamme, Fortissimo!” Lyle barked out. “Aaaugh! Why don’t you ever listen to me!?” Liza barked, turning and opening fire on the mysterious robed woman. The flames engulfed her instantly. The maestro chuckled. “See? Nothing to-” The woman stepped out of the flames, totally unharmed. “If I am not mistaken the correct thing to do here is to mimic the sounds a clock would make.” The woman stated robotically.  
  
“Lyle! We gotta run! Please!!” Liza begged her maestro.  
  
Looking down at his tuner, he noted Liza’s rhythm was starting to get dangerously low. He felt his own rhythm was pretty low too. At any rate, they were now at a severe disadvantage. Swallowing his pride once again, he made the call: “Yeah, let’s book it.” He turned and ran, Liza following. The pair ran as fast as they could. However, despite running full sprint, the woman was still right behind them, walking at a normal pace. No matter how fast they ran, she was still advancing on them, and even closing the gap.  
  
Lyle skidded to a halt, facing their enemy. “Okay, I’ve had just about enough of this bullshit!” He barked. “Who the fuck are you?!” He shouted at their enemy.  
  
“Should you really be wasting the last few moments of your life on irrelevant questions?” The woman countered. Lyle gritted his teeth hard. “Liza! Scintilla di civiltà, UItrissimo!” He barked at his resonator.  
  
Liza stepped in front of her maestro. This had to end. Whatever this THING was needed to be stopped. She gathered the massive amount of rhythm provided by her maestro into her hands, feeling the blazing fire of her soul engulf her very being. Then she thrust her hands out forward, unleashing the blast of flames for the third time that day. The attack met its mark, completely encasing the woman in fire. Liza held the attack for as long as she could. She felt the rhythm being provided slightly change, so she stopped and immediately turned around. Sure enough, Lyle’s bright red hair had begun to turn white. They had given it everything they had.  
  
However, despite that, and despite the attack landing head on, Lyle’s eyes were wide with shock, his face pale, as his jaw hung loose. Liza paled slightly at her maestro’s expression. She slowly turned around to see the woman standing right in front of her.  
  
Liza trembled in fright. “Th-that’s impossible… Scintilla di civiltà destroys anything made by civilization… you’d have to be-”  
  
“-a god.” The woman finished Liza’s sentence for her. Liza was grabbed by her hair and picked right up off her feet. “Gah! Let go of me!” The once proud dragon-girl shouted, flailing about as she was lifted from the ground, she punched and kicked and whipped her tail about, but none of the physical assaults even registered against the strange woman, Liza might as well have been fighting a wall. “A resonator plays such a beautiful melody. There is no sense in silencing such a wonderful song, however-” Liza’s eyes went wide, her struggling ceased, and her body went limp “-your duet is over.”  
  
The resonator was tossed into the dirt like a discarded doll, her body landing with a resounding thud. She laid there completely unmoving.  
  
Lyle stood there, trembling as his tuner displayed static. The woman stepped forward. “You however. You have misused the gift I provided you. There is no love in your melody; you see but a puppet for you to manipulate to your whims.” She placed a hand on his head, the man reduced to a trembling, whimpering mess as his end drew near. “I am not a being of cruelty. I will end your song abruptly. There will not be a final torturous end. Rejoice young boy.”  
  
_“WAIT!”_  
  
The woman remained stationary. Lyle didn’t understand why she had suddenly halted. She said she wouldn’t torture him, but he couldn’t move and the stress was getting to him. Not knowing when it would all end was far more nerve wracking than what she had just promised.  
  
What the woman saw that Lyle did not was two transparent figures, holding her arm trying to pull her off of her victim. A boy with brown hair, and a girl with black hair.  
  
_“Stop!”_ The black hair girl shouted.  
_“Don’t do this!”_ The brown hair boy added.  
  
The woman raised an eyebrow, perplexed. “This is what you wanted. This was the melody your souls played.” She spoke to the figures.   
  
_“We didn’t want this!”  
“Nobody needs to die!”_  
  
The pair did everything they could to try and pull the woman’s hand off of Lyle’s head. “What do you want then?”  
  
_“He’s dangerous yes, but he doesn’t deserve to die! No one deserves to die!”  
“We just don’t want him to hurt anyone else ever again!”_  
  
The woman sighed. “This is what you wished for.” She shook her head. “You have a lot to learn about this power. You are but monks traveling on a long road. I won’t be here to guide you through the rest of it. But perhaps one day you’ll reach the summit at which I stand.” She turned her gaze to Lyle, who remained in her grasp, then she looked over to the motionless Liza.  
  
“Your life has been spared.” She told the maestro in her grasp. He lit up instantly, but before he could thank her for her mercy, she continued to speak. “But I have been asked to make sure you never hurt anyone again.” His eyes went wide as his hair turned to white. “Never again will you be able to play a melody, for I have taken the gift I bestowed upon you all that time ago.” She opened her hand and allowed him to drop to the ground, just as lifeless as Liza before him.  
  
_“Y-you killed him anyways…?”_ The black-haired figure asked.  
  
“They are not dead. They have been wiped clean, and they will shortly go where they first drew breath.” She frowned. “I believe the proper nomenclature is “birthplace”?” Sure enough, both Liza and Lyle began to vanish. “As you have wished, they will be unable to harm anyone ever again. The maestro has been stripped of his rhythm, and the resonator will never be able to form a bond with him.”  
  
The two figures floated in front of the woman, they looked at each other and allowed themselves to sigh in relief. _“So is this it? Do we just go to the afterlife now?”_ The brown-haired figure questioned.  
  
Once again, the woman raised an eyebrow, confused. “No. You’re very much still alive. Though, because of my intervention, your lives will be significantly more treacherous.”  
  
_“What do you mean?”_ The black-haired figure asked.  
  
The woman began to glow brilliantly, overtaking the two ghostly figures in blinding light.  
  
“Tempo Accendere, two shall be spoken of as one…”


	68. Chapter 68

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of this chapter I had to add the "Graphic depictions of violence" warning due to what happens at the end of the chapter. Just so you all are aware.

_“Are we really alive Sho?”  
“I dunno Blakki, she said we were; but how do you explain this?”  
“Well, it feels like I’m dreaming, but I’m still awake? It’s hard to explain.”  
“I think that’s called lucid dreaming - where you’re aware you’re in a dream and can possibly control it.”  
“That sounds so cool! Unless you get stuck in a nightmare.”  
“But if this is a dream… why are you here?”  
“Che?”  
“If we’re not just ghosts, why are you present in my dream?”  
“Oh… that’s a good point.”  
  
_And then suddenly they were awake. “Shouri? Shouri? Are you there?” Colette asked, tears streaming down her face. Shouri blinked twice, his mind attempting to catch up with where he was. What even happened? He recalled a very vivid dream with Blakki in it. The last thing he was able to recall with clarity was fire. But now he was in the shade under some trees? He shook his head and sat up. He rubbed his head, looking over, he saw Blakki mirroring his motions.  
  
Something was off.  
  
_“What’s this weird feeling?”_ He thought. _  
_ “What weird feeling?” Blakki asked in response to his thought  
  
Shouri paled, as he stared at his resonator in shock. _“Wait, how did she reply to that? I didn’t say that out loud.”  
  
“…Sho?” _Her voice rang in his head as clear as day, but her lips didn’t move. _“There’s no way.”_ He shook his head, attempting to piece together what was happening. _“Sho, can you hear my thoughts?”_ Her voice rang out in his head again. _  
  
“_Hey are you two okay? What’s going on?” Rebecca asked. Looking around, Colette, Rebecca, Sonia, and Vinci all stared at them with concern.  
  
“We’re fine, just a bit shaken up by the battle.” They spoke in unison.  
_“Don’t say anything to them until we figure out what’s going on.”_ Shouri advised her mentally. She nodded in agreement only realizing after the fact how odd that probably looked.  
  
“You sure you two are alright?” Colette asked shakily, having somewhat recomposed herself. “Yeah, we found you two laying in the middle of a totally burnt field, pretty hard to not instantly assume the worst.” Rebecca added.  
  
Shouri pulled out his phone. It was about eleven or so in the morning. _“Let me take the lead.”_ He told Blakki. It took everything in her power not to nod again. “We fought that maestro and his resonator to a draw. They vanished and we passed out.”  
  
_“Wait, Sho, that’s not what happened!”  
“It basically is!”  
“But what about that lady?”  
“Look, I’m technically not lying, I’m just omitting information.”  
“Nnnnn…”  
  
_Colette and Rebecca exchanged a look. Shouri and Blakki had been making facial expressions as if they were having a conversation, but there wasn’t any spoken dialogue between them. “That’s one less problem to deal with at least. We looked everywhere for the Forest’s Kalimba, but after a certain point, I stopped being able to feel it.” Vinci told the other pair.  
  
“Did you see any of those fog clouds?” Shouri questioned.  
  
Vinci’s frown intensified. “Unfortunately. But by the time we got to it, the cloud was already fading away, and then that’s when I stopped feeling it.” He admitted. It was clear to see he was taking this loss pretty hard.  
  
“Well we’re all okay, and that’s what matters right?” Blakki asked, attempting to inject some optimism into the conversation.  
  
_“Says the girl that just died.”_ Shouri commented mentally. “We didn’t die! Jeeze!” Blakki slipped out, covering her mouth as she realized she shouted that out.  
  
“No you’re very much alive.” Sonia chimed in, patting her own resonator’s back. “Let’s get back to the bed and breakfast.” Shouri got to his feet, but immediately stumbled. “Woah!” He managed to catch himself on a nearby tree. His center of balance felt completely different, it was as if his body wasn’t his own.  
  
“Are you _sure_ you’re okay?” Colette asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
“So we’re probably not okay in the complete sense of the word, but in the traditional “I’m on this side of the dirt” meaning, we’re fine.” Shouri replied.  
  
The four healthy members of the group didn’t like that answer. “Come here you.” Vinci wrapped his arm around Shouri’s shoulder, forcing the maestro to lean on him. Rebecca supported Blakki similarly. The group hobbled their way over to the lodging they had the sense to reserve in advance.  
  
Blakki and Shouri remained quiet both physically and mentally as they were shown to their room. “Let us know when lunch is ready, we’re gonna lay down.” Shouri would tell his friends before shutting the door to his room.  
  
He turned to face Blakki who sat on the bed. She gazed back at him brows turned up in concern. _“You can hear me, right?”_ Shouri asked mentally. Blakki nodded before “speaking” up herself. _“I can… but I can’t believe it. How did this even happen in the first place?”  
  
“I dunno. It has to do with that lady.” _Shouri sat on the bed next to his partner and pulled out his tuner.Everything looked normal except - _  
  
“Oh we got a new spell.” _Blakki noted, looking over Shouri’s shoulder. _  
  
_“Magifiamma - Legato” It read on the screen.  
  
_“So we get these by watching someone perform them.”_ Shouri noted. _  
“Seems so. But that dragon girl used a bunch of Legato spells and we only got this one.”  
“Wait, I vaguely recall them saying a couple things about that.”  
  
“Damn it! Why the fuck do you have the Lunar-Water Ossia!?” _Shouri repeated in his head. _“The maestro had shouted that.”  
  
“Wait, so they’re like mixed element spells? I thought we could only use spells of our own element.” _Blakki furrowed her brows trying to understand the concept. _“The one legato spell we had previously was like a comet or something.”_ Shouri pointed out. _  
  
“Yeah, it seemed to do a good deal of damage to the dragon-girl too.” _Blakki added.  
_“Oh! Rebecca has one too. She’s got that steam attack.”_ _  
“Right! That must be Fire-water then? That’s the only thing that makes sense to me.”  
“I got an idea.”  
“Oh?”  
“Since we got this new spell when fighting a fire resonator, I wonder if when we use it Rebecca can learn it too.”  
“Good point.”  
  
“Wait Sho. You can scroll down further.”  
  
_Sure enough, there seemed to be one additional spell slot. _  
  
_“Tempo Accendere” _  
  
_The duo stared at the strange phrase on the screen. _“The heck is that?”_ Blakki frowned hard, not familiar with it. Shouri too, tried to piece it together. _“Well Tempo means “time” but maybe it refers to that thing Noir was talking about?”_ Blakki suggested. _  
  
“That was our connection? The measure of my rhythm passing to you if I recall. But what the hell does “accendere” mean?”  
“It’s Italian, kinda means like “turn on” or “switch on” in English.”  
  
_“Tempo Accendere.” Shouri spoke aloud. Blakki looked at her hands, then looked around. Nothing was happening. She didn’t have the usual feeling of Shouri’s command moving her body. It was just normal. Not even any kind of rhythm link. “Anything?” Shouri asked, revering back to using his voice instead of their weird mental chat line.  
  
“Nada.” Blakki frowned. “It’s in our spell list though.” The girl folded her arms across her chest wondering what was with the strange spell. Shouri meanwhile pulled out his cell phone. He called Colette. “Yeah, can you two come up here? We wanna try something.”  
  
_“Why call them?”_ Blakki asked, returning to communicating through their mind. _  
“I don’t want to just waste rhythm on seeing if we can cast the Ossia spell we got. Might as well see if Rebecca can learn it while we’re at it.”  
_  
A couple minutes later Colette and Rebecca showed up. “So what did you want to try?” Colette asked.  
  
Wordlessly, Blakki stood up and faced Rebecca. “Another one of those Legato spells.” Shouri replied. “I wanna see if Rebecca can learn it.” He clarified. Colette nodded slowly and motioned for Rebecca to stand in front of her, facing Blakki.  
  
When the two fox-girls were ready they began. “Magifiamma, Legato.”  
  
Blakki closed her eyes, allowing herself to make the motions to cast the spell. She felt fire welling up in her soul. Like with the water, she had to keep it balanced to prevent it from burning her, but once she did seven orbs of purple fire began to orbit around her. “Glad that seems to work.” Shouri nodded.  
  
Colette’s tuner beeped, as Rebecca was transfixed by the spell. “Magifiamma, Legato.” Colette read out. She winced slightly as the draw of the new spell was more intense than her normal spells. Rebecca began to make the same motions Blakki had made mere seconds ago. However, what she felt rather than an out of control fire was a deep darkness that threatened to pull her in if the let it. The fire resonator had to focus on the calm aspect of the darkness. Finally, opening her eyes, Rebecca saw the same seven orbs of purple fire orbiting around her.  
  
“So what does this do?” Rebecca asked, eyes following the orbs floating in front of her.  
  
“I think they can intercept other spells? The dragon girl used this to counter my Luce Lunare.” Blakki replied.  
  
“Hmmm, did they use any other Legato spells?” Colette asked.  
  
Shouri tilted his head back and forth in thought. “Yeah, there were two others. One made like a thick ash cloud, but there was also like an ambient heat?” He replied.  
  
“Also she used a lightning spell, but it singed me.” Blakki added in.  
  
Colette frowned, folding her arms across her chest. “So that’s five fire Legato spells that we know of.” She went through the list in her head mentally.  
  
“Two lunar.” Shouri added.  
  
“But what are they?” Colette asked.  
“Based on the patterning, I believe they’re mixed element spells.” Shouri replied.  
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too. Fire and Water are Scottare.”  
“The Comet spell Blakki and I have is Lunar-Water.”  
“Then Magifiamma is Fire-Lunar?”  
  
Shouri sat back down on the bed. “Sotto.” He said simply. The fire balls around Blakki vanished. Colette followed suit to disperse the ones around Rebecca as well. “Oh. The maestro called them “Ossia Spells.” So we at least know what to call them.” Shouri added.  
  
“Minorly helpful, but at least we know they have a name.” Colette nodded. “So from what I understand, you can use these spells, but only if your resonator is one of the two elements.” She theorized.  
  
The male maestro nodded in agreement. “That makes sense. Blakki can’t use Rebecca’s steam spell, but Rebecca can use Magifiamma.”  
  
“Vinci hasn’t mentioned being able to use any of them, so maybe Nulls can’t use Ossia spells at all.” Colette pointed out. She looked to Rebecca. “You mentioned it feels weird whenever you use our Ossia spells right?” The fire resonator nodded. “Yeah, with Scottare, I feel like I have to keep a careful balance in myself otherwise I’ll drown. Kinda like being in an ocean.” She explained.  
  
“Yeah, that’s how I feel when I cast our Water Ossia spell.” Blakki chimed in.  
“What about Fire spells?” Rebecca questioned.  
“Like it’ll burn me if I’m not careful. And Lunar for you?”  
“I’ll be pulled into a never-ending darkness.”  
  
Colette and Shouri listened to the two resonators compare notes on how the different elemental spells felt. “So Rebecca, how does it feel when casting a normal fire spell?” Shouri asked.  
  
“Well, I’ve always got kinda this “fire” within me, it just burns a little brighter if that makes sense. It’s not really something I think about unless I focus on what I’m actually doing when casting the spell. Usually my body just moves.” She explained. “It doesn’t help that usually we’re in the middle of fighting, so I don’t have the luxury of thinking about how my spells work.” The fire-fox added with a shrug.  
  
“I understand that but with that darkness you mentioned Rebecca.” Blakki spoke up again. “It’s a calm, gentle darkness though.” She added a small giggle.  
  
Shouri leaned his head back, closing his eyes. “I wonder… If maybe the reason Ossia spells cost so much rhythm is because we’re forcing our resonators to create elements their bodies were never intended to make.” He opened his eyes, leaning forward over his knees. “I don’t think using Ossia spells are necessarily harmful, just taxing on us maestros since we have to provide so much rhythm up front to make it happen.” Colette theorized.  
  
“I wonder if breaking concentration using something like Mente Offuscata would cause the casting resonator to “drown” in the other element.” Shouri spoke quietly, still thinking about it.  
  
“I’d rather not test it to be honest.” Blakki added.  
“Yeah same.” Rebecca nodded in agreement.  
  
The male maestro sighed and laid back on the bed. “No use thinking about that for now. At least we have some idea of what this stuff is.” Still remaining on the bed, he spoke up again. “Thanks for humoring us Colette.”  
  
“No problem!” Colette replied. “Glad you’re back to normal though.” She added. “You both really scared me today.” The red-haired maestro admitted shakily. “Anyways! Let’s go Rebecca.”  
  
With that, Shouri and Blakki were left alone, where they remained completely quiet for some time.  
  
\---  
  
“Ugh, what a long day.” Shouri flopped into bed. It was about eight at night, but with time zone differences that didn’t really matter. “Yeah…” Blakki yawned, taking her place next to Shouri in bed. The pair zoned out just laying on the bed and enjoying the presence of each other.  
  
“I’m scared…”  
“Please have mercy…”  
  
Colette knelt before them, beaten and bloody. Rebecca laid a bit away, a pool of red expanding out from under her unmoving form. Her now pure white hair and fur painted red with her own draining life force. Her feet burnt black, her shoes having been long turned to ash, though they were barely attached to the main form in the first place. The maestro had no time to mourn her dismembered friend, as Rebecca’s executioner raised their hand.  
  
_“This is what you wished for.”  
  
_“No please!” Colette pleaded, her eyes widening.  
  
SCHWICK  
  
The sound reached her ears well before the pain did. The hole that was punched straight though her chest slowly dripped red as the speed of the strike forcibly ejected that section of her chest cavity. Colette no longer offered any protest, her eyes wide, tears still spilling down her cheeks.  
  
SCHWICK  
  
Their hand drew back as quickly as it had punctured its target previously. A lump of reds and purples in their grasp, still pulsating as if struggling to escape their grip. Colette stared at the beating mass being held in front of her. Her head swayed back and forth as she struggled to maintain consciousness through the pain.  
  
SPLASH  
  
And then the mass was crushed. With the final flame of her resistance snuffed out, her body went limp as she fell backwards, a flood of crimson joining her fallen partner behind her.  
  
_“This is what you wanted. This was the melody your souls played.”  
  
_They just stared at the two lifeless forms before them. Flames licked the landscape around them as they stood uncontested against the ruins. There were no sounds of life. Looking down at their hands, they saw the still wet liquid sitting on a layer of dried blood. They had been doing this for a while. It was so easy. Mere playthings in their hands. Life was just so easy to crush. The first one wasn’t even a challenge. Each time they encountered someone new, they would fight for a bit, but ultimately the struggles of these mere mortals… no mortals implies these _insects_ were ever worth anything in the first place.  
  
The question was, why wasn’t this ending? What was the point? There wasn’t one. This cosmic joke of existence would have to be returned to zero. It was as simple as that. There wasn’t any force in the universe that could stop them at this point.  
  
Shouri and Blakki laid in each other’s arms, coated in a thick layer of sweat. They both trembled fearfully, completely locked in place.


	69. Chapter 69

“Something’s… wrong.” Rebecca whispered to Colette as they ate breakfast. Shouri and Blakki were quiet. Dead quiet. There were dark circles around their puffy red eyes. Their hair and clothes were a general mess. The two moved slowly as they ate breakfast and just seemed like they were only seconds away from slumping over from exhaustion.  
  
“You think they were up having sex all night?” Colette whispered back.  
“No, I don’t think their eyes would be so red if that was the case.” Rebecca muttered, attempting to not draw the attention of the subjects in question.  
“What do you think’s wrong then? They didn’t leave their room last night.”  
“Dunno, they were okay yesterday when we went up to visit them.”  
  
Rebecca hummed in thought mulling over the events of the day prior. “Actually… it kinda felt like they were trying to distract themselves when I think about it.” She glared at her breakfast, deep in thought. “I don’t even think they’re awake right now.” The resonator’s voice had slowly reached normal speaking levels, despite the pair they were discussing was sitting right across the table from them.  
  
Shouri and Blakki continued to pick at their breakfast at a snail’s pace, not even acknowledging their fellow travelling companions. Naturally this unnerved the two girls who returned to speaking in a hushed tone despite the subjects of the conversation being barely cognizant of their surrounding environment.  
  
“Maybe they’ll sleep on the plane ride back?” Colette hoped out. “That’s the dream. They don’t look too good.” Rebecca glanced up at their friends in concern. It was around this time that Sonia and Vinci joined the group for breakfast. “What’s with them?” Vinci blurted out, pointing at the nearly dead-in-their-seats Shouri and Blakki.  
  
“Dunno.” Rebecca frowned.  
“I don’t feel much from them. Lights are on, but nobody’s home.” Sonia pointed out.  
“Maybe we should start heading home too. Would hate to run up the electric bill.” The fire resonator chuckled, rising from her seat.  
  
When breakfast was finished, the group packed up and shuffled out to the car, however the quartet that weren’t sleep walking nervously watched Shouri repeatedly miss the keyhole for their rental car. “I think I’ll drive.” Sonia said, snatching the keys from the boy before he could inflict any further damage on the vehicle. “Can you even drive?” Rebecca questioned, not recalling an instance where Sonia offered to drive in the past.  
  
“Yeah, just a bit nervous driving in a foreign country.” She held the keys up in the air as Shouri tried to grab them (and fail). “But I’d rather drive than let the sleepy baby try his hand at running us into a river.” She added, gently pushing the barely protesting maestro away from her. After loading everyone and everything into the rental they were off. The trip to the airport was quiet, with Sonia in the driver seat and Vinci riding shotgun this time. Blakki leaned up against Shouri – they looked asleep but were moving around slowly, just barely on the cusp of consciousness.  
  
Colette and Rebecca exchanged a concerned look. They would soon arrive at the airport, but a new problem would present itself:  
  
“Fuck, none of us have Miles’ number except Shouri.” Sonia sighed, staring at the boy who was barely on his feet.  
  
“We could take his phone.” Vinci suggested.  
“He has it password locked, plus I’m not invading his privacy for that.” Sonia retorted  
  
Colette and Rebecca watched the other pair argue amongst themselves. Miles wouldn’t just leave without them, but regardless this was still a waste of time. “Alright, I’m getting sick of this.” Rebecca grumbled. “Shouri!” She barked. No effect, he remained functionally dead to the world. “Colette, give me Fuoco Fatuo.” She looked to her maestro.  
  
“What? Why? We’re in an airport!” The fire-maestro hissed.  
“Just trust me!”  
“Fine fine - Fuoco Fatuo, Tenuto.”  
  
Rebecca formed the tiny ball of fire on the tip of her finger and aimed it at Shouri’s forehead. She frowned after a moment and aimed it at Blakki. With a flick of her index finger the small ball of fire splashed against the Lunar resonator’s forehead. “AAH!” The girl screeched, surprised by the sudden heat. Shouri snapped to as well, being startled by his partner screaming in his ear.  
  
After taking a moment to calm down, the pair looked around in a daze, confusion all over their face. “Where are we?” They asked in unison.  
  
“The airport. You two have been zombieing around all morning.” Sonia told the pair. They looked to each other and frowned. There were bits and pieces that they recalled, but it was all trapped in a fragmented fog. Shouri shook his head and yawned. “What do you need?” He asked, the exhaustion rapidly creeping back up on his face.  
  
“Call Miles.” Sonia stated simply. Shouri stood there for a moment, blinking slowly. “Miles.” He and Blakki said aloud. One could practically see the gears turning in the pairs’ heads.  
  
“Right, I’ll call Miles.” The lunar pair nodded. Shouri reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He thumbed through his contacts for far longer than it should have taken him and eventually held the phone up to his ear.  
  
“Hello Miles?”  
  
The other four stared. Shouri was talking to Miles on the phone, but Blakki was also just mimicking word for word what Shouri was saying, in perfect unison. The strangest part was she was just zoned out, not looking at Shouri at all, just kind of staring off into space, seemingly having a conversation with herself. When Shouri hung up, the pair looked to their four baffled compatriots, returning a look of confusion.  
  
“What?” They again asked in unison.  
  
The group of four looked between each other before Sonia decided to speak up for the collective: “Is there something you’d like to tell us?”  
  
Now it was Shouri and Blakki’s turn to share a look. After a solid moment, they turned their attention back to their traveling companions. “No.” They both replied again. “Are you absolutely sure?” Rebecca attempted to probe further.  
  
The lunar pair folded their arms across their chests, both holding themselves in the same manner as they seemingly thought over their response. “Nope, nothing that I can think of.” They both said, apparently not seeing anything wrong with speaking in stereo. “Come on, Miles is waiting for us.” And with that, they began to walk away.  
  
The other two pairs followed, but at a distance. “Okay, it’s not just me, right?” Vinci asked. “There’s something weird going on with them.” Rebecca nodded in agreement.  
  
“Come to think of it. I recall a bunch of times where they’ve spoken in that weird synchronized way.” Colette added after a moment of thought. “It feels like it’s been getting more and more frequent up until yesterday.” She frowned hard, wracking her brain about what this could possibly mean.  
  
“…you know what?” Rebecca stopped. “I remember one weird thing I noticed when we first met.” The other three stopped for a moment. “The very first time I battled alongside Blakki; I remember distinctly that she was using her spells faster than Shouri was saying them.” She told the group. “That’s not possible though! The tuner has to process the command and draw the rhythm before sending it to the resonator, it’s just not physically possible!” Colette countered.  
  
“Keep in mind part of the “lag” is the resonator’s body processing the rhythm to create the spell. What if they had some weird thing where she can get the command to her body before receiving the rhythm so she’s already forming the spell and is just waiting on the rhythm link?” Rebecca theorized.  
  
Colette frowned hard. This would definitely bother her. Shouri and Blakki, out of their group of six, were the pair with the least amount of time together. However, they were not only the closest personally, but also the strongest by a large margin. They had complete mastery of Fortissimo level spells, had their ultimate spell, AND could use those crazy Ossia spells as if they were nothing. Their team work in battle was top-notch as well, with a bit more time, they would probably give some of the Grand Masters a run for their money.   
  
Their train of thought would be interrupted by Sonia stepping between the pair. “I wanna figure out what the hell is going on with my friends as much as you do, but we probably shouldn’t lose them in a busy airport.” She told the other girls. “Oh fuck!” Rebecca yelped, seeing Shouri and Blakki turning a corner, completely oblivious that the rest of the group wasn’t behind them.  
  
\---  
  
“I can’t wait to be back home and lay in a real bed.” Rebecca sighed, reclining in the slightly uncomfortable plane seat she would exist in for the next fourteen to sixteen hours. “Home?” Colette raised an eyebrow looking up from her book on American history she had borrowed for the trip. “Well, Sonia’s place.” The fire resonator paused. “It might as well be home for the time being.”  
  
“I’m glad my little shop is comfy enough to call home.” Sonia spoke up. Rebecca and Colette looked over at the maestro. She chuckled. “Sorry for eavesdropping.”  
  
“It’s cool.” Rebecca leaned back. “Though, if we lose the next one that’s it huh?” She looked out the window of the plane.  
  
“The Noble Swords probably won’t let us borrow the orchestra.” Colette spoke up.  
“Maybe if we ask reeaaaal nicely.” The resonator chuckled, earning a small smile from her maestro.  
  
Sonia frowned, hesitating before she spoke up. “I… have a bad feeling about them getting the Orchestra/”  
  
The fire pair looked to the Null maestro. “I hope that’s all it is.” Rebecca muttered. She pushed herself up and looked at the seat behind them. Shouri and Blakki were leaned up against each other, zoned out once again, not quite sleeping, but not there mentally either. “Seriously, what’s going on with them?” She frowned, turning back and sitting in her seat properly.  
  
The group would be bothered by their companions’ recent behavior for the entire trip home.  
  
\---  
  
“You all look like shit.” Was the first comment the group received as soon as they met Aura at the airport. “Thirteen-hour plane ride.” Rebecca yawned, stretching out her stiff back. Aura looked over the group. Rebecca, Colette, Vinci and Sonia looked tired and generally sore.  
  
Shouri and Blakki however looked even worse. They appeared as if they hadn’t slept in days. Unkempt hair, clothes a general mess, thick dark rings around both of their eyes. Their expressions were both just blank, glazed over. Immediately the elder sibling turned her attention to the quartet that she had left the care of her brother to. “What the hell did you to do my brother?” She questioned pointedly.  
  
“Dunno, he and Blakki were both super zoned out since before the plane ride.” Sonia frowned, glancing back at her traveling companions for back-up.  
  
“I thought they would sleep properly, but it looks like they both just refuse to sleep.” Colette added in.  
  
Aura sighed, lowering her shoulders. “This again huh?”  
  
“Eh?” The functional part of the group shared a look of confusion.  
  
“After uhh… the incident, Shouri would have very frequent nightmares. They got so bad at some points he would be scared of sleeping and he’d stay awake for days at a time. Eventually he looked like this.” Aura explained. “Thankfully, he’s pretty easy to manipulate in this state, so I keep some pretty strong sleeping pills in the house to knock him out.” She ushered the boy and his fox girl into the car as she explained this. “Nothing I can’t handle.” She nodded, closing the car door and staring at her nearly comatose brother with concern.  
  
She motioned for the rest of the group to follow. “Get in, the sooner I get you lot home, the sooner I can get dumb and dumber into bed.”  
  
\---  
  
 _“Sho…”  
“Blakki…”  
  
“All I wanted to do was protect my friends…”  
“Why did it turn out this way?”  
“Why am I the biggest threat to them now?”_  
  
Blue and green eyes would meet each other back in the waking world. It would take some time for their mental capacities to catch back up with them before they realized where they were. The duo sat up in daze.  
  
“We’re home?!” Shouri and Blakki cried out in unison. Looking around confirmed this fact. They were in the safety of their apartment’s bedroom.  
  
“How did we get here?” Blakki asked, holding her head.  
“I vaguely remember the airport, but not much after we went to sleep at the inn.” Shouri added in.  
  
“Sho.” The lunar resonator spoke up. “I remember the dream we had.” She spoke grimly. The vixen trembled fearfully, tears coming to her eyes. Shouri reached over and pulled his girlfriend into a tight hug. “It wasn’t real, it was just a dream. Just a dream.” He reassured her, though his voice trembled as if he was trying to convince himself of this fact as well. She wrapped her arms around her boyfriend, refusing to let go.  
  
They sat in their tight embrace for some time before finally releasing each other. The two looked into the other’s eyes.  
  
“Sahji’s?”  
“Sahji’s.”  
  
Getting out of bed, the two found their shoes after some trouble and with that they left the apartment. Before they got down the stairs, they ran into Aura, who was on her way back up. “The sleeping beauties awaken.” The sibling declared dramatically. “Where are you two off to in such a rush?” She questioned, noting how quickly they had descended the stairs.  
  
“Gonna go beat up a kid for some answers!” The lunar pair spoke in stereo.  
  
Aura raised an eyebrow as she watched them hit the bottom of the stairs and run off into the parking lot. “They’re getting too good at that creepy twin thing.” The woman noted before going back to ascending the stairs herself.  
  
\---  
  
“Sahji! Get out here!”  
  
Rather than the enigmatic sage that occupied the shop however, they found the phoenix-girl, Blaze, sweeping away. She ceased her menial task to greet the pair that had entered. “Ah, there you two are.” She leaned on her small broom as she addressed Shouri and Blakki.  
  
The lunar pair simply stared. “What?” Blaze asked.  
  
Looking the small ethereal over, not only was she sweeping, but she had been taken out of her ornate fire-themed dress and had been put in a maid’s outfit. “Yep, that’s going on the list.” Shouri grumbled, pulling out his phone.  
  
While Shouri updated his “list of things to hate Sahji for”, Blakki decided to actually address why they had come out to see the sage in the first place. “We wanted to talk to Sahji about something.”  
  
“He stepped out for a bit, but I can probably fill you in on what happened earlier.” Blaze snapped her fingers and the broom vanished along with the maid outfit. “So, we’re down three.” She started. “But that is what it is. More pressingly, from what the others described, you two have been acting funny.”  
  
What was unnerving about the situation was Blaze’s eyes were glowing as she smirked at the pair. “Now that you’re standing here, a couple things make sense.” She nodded. “Like how strongly your rhythm pulls towards each other, and the weird synchronicity that the others described to Sahji and I.”  
  
Shouri’s brows descended into a sharp glare. “Out with it. I hate when the sages pull this crypticism bullshit and I’m not taking it from you either.”  
  
Blaze shrugged. “You two stink.”  
  
“OUT WITH IT.” Shouri barked, losing his temper.  
  
“There’s nothing cryptic here Shouri. For whatever reason you two smell like an ethereal, specifically a sage.” Blaze stated.  
  
“What the fuck does that even mean?” The maestro growled. Blakki placed a hand on his shoulder, to hold him back.  
  
The fire ethereal walked up to the pair. “Step outside with me. I don’t want Sahji snooping.” She stepped out of the building, momentarily leaving Shouri and Blakki alone.  
  
They looked at each other. “This better be fucking good.” The boy grumbled.  
“Calmati Sho. She’s not Sahji, let’s go hear what she has to say.” Blakki patted her maestro’s back.  
  
After making some distance between them and the shop in question Blaze spoke up. “I’m going to tell you a story. It’s one that’s told in the other world.” She closed her eyes and took a breath before speaking once more.  
  
“Long ago, there was a great evil. The people of the world were slaughtered one after another without remorse. The gods were powerless to stop the impending doom and abandoned the world in its time of need. When all hope was lost, these words were spoken:  
  
 _“Our perfect tempo! Resonator and Maestro, burning the rhythm of life! We are here à deux!”_  
  
In an instant, a blinding brilliance covered the land, purging the darkness and restoring the peace. However, the hero who spoke those words was nowhere to be found. To honor the hero and to never forget the power they held, we speak of rhythm in their name.”  
  
Shouri frowned hard, arms folded across his chest. Before he could speak his mind, Blakki beat him to the punch. “And what does that mean?” Blakki asked.  
  
“It’s got a few names: The “great miracle” by the common folk, the “unknown miracle” by scholars; a power that was able to defeat something even the gods could not conquer. Among ethereals it’s even called the “god killing technique”.” Blaze paused for a moment. Shouri opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off. “What you did out there was that technique, and surviving it may have qualified you for ethereal status.”  
  
The two mere mortals stood there, in shock. “Excuse me?” Was the next thing Shouri said.  
  
“That’s what I mean by you two smelling like an ethereal. It’s strange though, you both are like a sage, but that doesn’t make any sense. There’s no possible way for you to become a sage.” Blaze mused aloud.  
  
“So what, we’re immortal now?” Shouri asked. Blakki looked over at him before lowering her head. She had this strange sensation welling up inside her - something deep within herself told her this was a dream, something she didn’t deserve. There was a feeling like there was someone or maybe a group of people she wanted to run back to and show them exactly what she had become, but that’s all it was, a feeling.  
  
“No, definitely not. Becoming an ethereal is a posthumous process. You would have had to have died in order to become an ethereal, and you two are definitely still mortals.” Blaze paused for a moment. “But-” She frowned, taking another moment to gather her thoughts. “I’ve met the other sages, and this scent isn’t like the seven sages.”  
  
Shouri folded his arms across his chest, bitterly glaring away. “Now what? We’re not immortal but “smell” like an ethereal and supposedly have this awesome god crushing power?”  
  
“Well is there anything different? Any new spells?” Blaze inquired.  
  
The maestro dropped his arms to his sides. He looked at Blakki, who looked at him. “There is a new spell, yes.” They both said in unison.  
  
Shouri pulled his tuner from his side and looked over the mysterious new spell they couldn’t use.  
  
“Tempo Accendere.”  
  
However, nothing happened. “Well, it sounds like some kind of activator, but there’s obviously some sort of condition that needs to be met first; maybe it’s not the full spell and you only have a piece of it?” Blaze pondered that thought for a moment. “You got it when you fought that guy?” She asked for clarification.  
  
“Yeah.” Blakki nodded. “We don’t remember exactly what it did, but that command showed up in our spell list like the Ossia spells.” Shouri chimed in. “We’ve tried a couple of times to figure out what it does, but no matter how many times I read it, the spell doesn’t do anything.” He told the ethereal.  
  
Blaze nodded, taking in the information. “The great miracle seemingly killed the only user of it in the past. It’s not something we have any information on how to use or even what it really is. The bigger problem is it’s a rhythm-based technique. As you’ve probably heard one of the primary facets of rhythm is “to use is to know” or in laymen’s terms, if you know something is possible to do, you can gain the possibility of using it.” The ethereal looked Shouri right in the eyes. “There’s a chance that this power is so great that the original user of it vanished because they recognized the threat it posed to the world.”  
  
Shouri and Blakki gulped, both recalling the strange _thing_ they inadvertently summoned in their previous battle. “You have two options at this point. Since you don’t seem to be able to activate it, just forget it is there, or try to figure out how to use it. The choice is up to you.”  
  
And with that, Blaze left the pair to their own devices.  
  
“What are we gonna do Sho?”  
“I… dunno Blakki.”


	70. Chapter 70

Colette and Rebecca stared out the window as their plane circled around the runway. As far as the eye could see it was all red. Red red red. It felt unreal that people even lived here, sure, the two lived near the desert back on their world, but they lived on the coast, where greenery actually existed.  
  
“Shouri Shouri! Where are we on the map?” Rebecca asked, turning around to the maestro.  
  
For the fifth time this trip, Shouri pulled up the world map on his phone and flashed it to Rebecca. She stared at it for a moment. “Oh! This is L'ultera!” She declared.  
  
“Australia.”  
“Whatever.”  
  
Blakki couldn’t help but chuckle at her fellow fox’s enthusiasm. “Why are you so excited about this place?” She asked.  
  
“Well in our world, L'ultera has tons of super rare resonators. Like there’s these kangaroo resonators that channel their spells around their limbs and fight using martial arts, it’s super cool to watch.” Rebecca explained. “There’s also these like squirrels that can jump super high and glide around.”  
  
“Well I doubt we’ll find anybody like that here.” Shouri replied simply. “After we grab the Flash Melodica we could probably find their actual animal counterparts; but I doubt that’d be nearly as interesting.” He shrugged.  
  
\---  
  
Another airport, another standard disembarking.  
  
The group clustered around in a small circle as per their usual post landing procedures. “So what language do they speak here Shouri?” Colette inquired.  
  
“English – They’ve got their own way of speaking it though.”  
  
Sure enough there were a couple of Aussies nearby talking about something no doubt hilarious.  
  
“Struth! Me and me mate Bazza were drivin in the ute when some flamin galah cut us off in some dodgy holden commo. we got out and had a bit of a blue or a bit of a dist up if you will but talked it out over a slab of tinnies we picked up at a bottlo nearby. we're goin to bonnydoon next week. Reckon it'll go off like a frog in a sock.”  
  
Colette blinked three times, trying to digest what she just overheard. Rebecca similarly stared. “Interesting, so they can’t translate dialects.” Shouri nodded.  
  
The fire-maestro grabbed her lunar counterpart’s jacket and shook him, while pointing at the departing locals. “What did those people do to the English language?!” She demanded.  
  
\---  
  
“Wow…” Blakki gasped in awe as their car pulled up to the literal resort that they would be staying at. Despite being in the thick of the Australian bush, there was still a settlement just existing in the middle of it all. The fox-girl looked around in awe as they walked onto the property. Lush green trees and grass greeted them as soon as they crossed the threshold of the property.  
  
They were greeted by the front desk attendant, who led the group to their rooms. As they walked, they caught sight of a huge pool as well as a couple of bars and other amenities they would no doubt take advantage of before they went after the orchestra member they were here to retrieve in the first place.  
  
The property as a whole was beyond well kept. The brown stone sidewalk that laid under them was kept spotless, not even the bricks were cracked. The white lawn chairs practically glistened, despite being under a row of healthy white barked trees.  
  
Passing by the pool gave the group a good look at it. It was absolutely massive, and again, everything was kept meticulously clean. No dirt, algae, leaves tarnished the lovely blue waters. An army of beach chairs laid in the nearby grass, a few other patrons taking advantage of the sun to work on their tans. On the other side of the pool was a precession of huge plush wicker chairs, again kept super clean despite being right next to chlorinated water.  
  
Finally, the group was dropped off at their respective rooms, which were more like tiny condos than anything else. Walking in was a treat all on its own. A huge flat panel TV adorned the wall opposite of the bed. A plush couch sat under the television, probably for guests. The bed itself was huge, definitely a king size. The furniture looked more like art pieces, but still retained their functionality.  
  
Blakki stood in the middle of the room, eyes closed, as she took in the scent of the room. It was distinct, not anything she could place, but it felt comfortable regardless.  
  
“You alright?” Shouri asked.  
“Yeah, just taking it all in.” She replied. Sitting on the bed, she looked around.  
  
“I’m just unbelievably lucky I met you Sho.” The girl dropped onto her back, spreading her arms out on the soft bed.   
  
“Why do you say that?” Shouri asked, taking a seat on the bed next to his partner. She closed her eyes, letting out a sigh. “It’s just, there’s this part of me that feels like this isn’t real. I know I’ve said this before, but the way I was treated in the other world by people who didn’t even know me… I have a hunch that even people that I knew with treated me similarly, maybe even worse.” Her limbs slowly retreated, wrapping around her form, turning her into a tight ball.  
  
“I go to sleep every night afraid that when I wake up, I’ll return to whatever hell I came from – that this dream finally came to an end.”  
  
Shouri just stared, frozen for a moment at what his girlfriend was saying. Being trapped in one’s own head was something he himself was intimately familiar with. It made every smile she ever showed him feel like a knife stabbing into him, and every tear shed by her caused by his own hand an execution. She didn’t cry though. No, she was speaking as a person whose well of tears had long since dried up. His eyes glowed a soft yellow as he processed what was happening.  
  
He exhaled deeply as he came to a conclusion. The cold wrap of emotions Blakki had encased herself in melted away as Shouri wrapped himself around her.  
  
“I don’t know what happened to you in that other world but you’re here now, and I can promise you its not a dream.” He spoke softly, barely a whisper. Blakki smiled bittersweetly. “I just want it to stop – this is my life now; I don’t have a past that’s not with you. But there’s a morbid curiosity, a part of me that wants to remember what caused these feelings.” She admitted.  
  
“Well if that time ever comes, we’ll face it together – okay?”  
“Thanks Sho.”  
  
\---  
  
That night  
  
“You sure?”  
“Yeah. One more before tomorrow.”  
“Let’s go.”  
  
Under the cloak of night, a pair dipped out of their lavish five-star hotel room and took off into the bush. It was quite cold out, but more pressingly it was dark, horribly dark. The light pollution radiating off of the tiny settlement was muted by the size of the untamed Australian wilderness.  
  
“Fuoco Fatuo, Tenuto.”  
  
A ball of fire appeared near Rebecca. Given how dark it was around them, the spell was much more effective than they had given it credit for in the past. They were able to see a bit around them. There were all manners of wildlife that scurried away from the sudden light source appearing in what should have been a veil of darkness.  
  
“This way. Stay close.” Rebecca waved her maestro forward. Colette nodded and followed her resonator further off the beaten path. “Can I have this in Rubato? Should be good to fend off random bugs and snakes that crop up.” The vixen asked. The maestro would nod, quietly lowering her hand to her side and placing it on her tuner before she spoke.  
  
“Fuoco Fatuo, Mosso Rubato.”  
  
The pair of girls kept walking. Sure enough, as Rebecca had guessed, there was some wildlife that grew aggressive with their presence. A burst of small fire on the creature in question quickly caused them to flee. The spell being in Mosso meant the creatures in question would be assaulted by a tiny bright explosion of fire. Sparks basically, nothing that would set the sparse flora ablaze.  
After some walking, they ran across their quarry. It was a kangaroo shaped scherzando. Colette drew her tuner from her side. A quick burst of Fuoco Fatuo would reveal a nature element scherzando. “Even if it’s a scherzando it still has the same fighting style as their resonator counterparts.” Colette advised.  
  
Looking the creature over, its arms didn’t look very impressive. However, its thick, muscular legs, and nearly log-like tail were definitely dangerous weapons to watch out for.  
  
“Lanciafiamme, Forte!”  
  
Rebecca began the engagement with a powerful stream of fire, which the scherzando jumped over. “Tch, figured.” Colette grumbled. “Magifiamma, Legato!” She called out next. Her heart stopped beating for just a second while the rhythm was torn out of her. Gripping the fabric of her blouse, she watched Rebecca form the seven balls of eerie fire that orbited about her body. The orange-clad fox rushed in, igniting her heels with her class skill.  
  
The kangaroo went to hop away, not expecting the resonator to be able to follow. The fire from the Lunar-fire Ossia were urged towards the airborne target, pelting it and breaking its concentration. Flying just over the enemy, Rebecca dropped a fiery axe-kick down on the beast, taking them all the way to the ground.  
  
As Rebecca emerged from the wreckage of the devastating attack, she smirked. “I wonder if coach would be proud of me.” She commented.  
  
Colette returned her tuner to her side since the battle had been won. “He’d probably complain about you staying in form all the way into the ground or something.” The maestro shrugged. Rebecca seemed a bit disheartened by that comment. “But he was a perfectionist – I thought you were cool out there.” She added quickly.  
  
The fire resonator couldn’t help but smile.  
  
\---  
  
Vinci awoke in their hotel room. It was 3:23AM according to the bedside alarm. There was a dim light on in the room somewhere. Sitting up, he found Sonia wasn’t in her bed, but was sitting at the desk, hunched over something. He watched her for a bit in silence. Based on her hand movements, she was writing on something. After a moment, she grunted in frustration, tearing a page off of a notepad and crumbling it up.  
  
The boy crept out of bed and silently walked over to his maestro. He looked over her shoulder. She had a bunch of notes scribbled out in a notebook. Upon closer inspection, it was their spell list, with all of their effects written out. Sonia was writing out some number on the hotel notepad, cross-referencing the hand-written spell list.  
  
“What are you doing?” He finally spoke up.  
“AHH!” The girl yelped.  
  
After calming her racing heart, she replied. “Going over our spells before tomorrow. I dunno what we’re gonna face, so I wanted to be ready.”  
  
“Doesn’t seem to be going well.” Vinci replied bluntly. “Just a bit.” Sonia wilted, stealing a glance at the notebook. “You should get some sleep.” The resonator suggested. Taking off her glasses and setting it on the table, Sonia spun the chair around to face him. For a moment, they remained there in silence. “It’ll be ok.” Vinci spoke up.  
  
“I’m getting too old for this.”  
“You’re only twenty.”  
“Maybe I’ll take up drinking this year.”  
“Sounds like I’ll need to get a license.”  
  
Sonia stood up. “I’m not taking a sixteen-year-old to a bar so he can be my designated driver.” The girl patted her resonator’s head. “Get back to bed, we have a long day tomorrow.”  
  
\---  
  
CRACK BOOM  
  
She ran as fast as she could, but no matter how hard her feet beat against the ground, the slow stream of excited electrons would always reach her, piercing her body to its very core and sending her to the ground.  
  
It always went a little something like this.  
  
The worst part was the torment was only starting.  
  
CRACK BOOM  
  
Blakki sat up in bed, her heart racing, eyes wide, a cold sweat coating her body. She remained motionless for a moment, trying to silently catch her breath.  
  
The entire room flashed, causing the girl to jump in fright, then the noise arrived.  
  
CRACK BOOM  
  
“AAAH!” She yelled out. The poor frightened resonator curled up on the bed, tears streaming down her face. Everything was spinning, her heart racing. The spinning came to a stop when she felt something grab her shoulders. “Blakki!”  
  
“Sh-sho…” Her voice trembled. She clung to him for dear life as the storm raged outside their window.  
  
They would lay there for hours. Poor Blakki eventually becoming numb to the world, just existing in Shouri’s arms, whimpering quietly with each clap of thunder.  
  
\---  
  
Colette yawned as she sat in the cafeteria of the resort. She pulled out her tuner and glanced at the time.  
  
4:50AM  
  
Staring at the time as it flipped up to the fifty first minute of the hour, she let loose another yawn. Her attention was drawn by a rumble of thunder outside. “You gonna make it princess?”  
  
The maestro looked over at Rebecca, who had returned to the table with a tray filled with various breakfast foods. “Don’t call me that.” The girl grumbled, grabbing a piece of toast from one of the plates. “It was storming all night. I wonder how the others slept.” Rebecca pondered aloud.  
  
“Fantastic.”  
  
Rebecca and Colette turned to the source of the voice. Shouri and Blakki stood at the table. Shouri looked like his usual “I slept maybe three hours, but I’m still awake” self. Blakki however looked awful. Her hair was a mess, including her normally meticulously cared for tail. There were thick dark rings around her half-open red eyes. It was evident that she had done a fair bit of crying as well from the slight dampness around her eyes.  
  
“What’s wrong with her?” Colette pointed at the exhausted lunar resonator. On cue, there was a loud clap of thunder, shaking the building. Blakki let out a small whimper, clinging to her maestro’s arm tightly.  
  
“Ah.” Rebecca nodded. She hummed in thought, lowering her head, and staring at her breakfast as if it had the answer. “When Sonia and Vinci get here we can hurry up and get to the rock.” The fire resonator suggested. Shouri nodded slowly. “Gonna go get us some energy drinks.” He said quietly before walking away with Blakki attached to him.  
  
Sure enough, as soon as Shouri and Blakki departed, Sonia and Vinci would arrive. While they looked similarly tired, they appeared to have actually gotten _some_ sleep. “Rough night?” Rebecca asked.  
  
“Just a bit.” Sonia replied, barely stifling a yawn. She took a seat at the table, across from Colette. The elder girl sighed wearily. “You said people in your world do this resonator battle thing professionally right?” She asked.  
  
“Yeah, it’s a huge driving force of our economy now that I think about it.” Colette replied. “There are two types of maestros – those who do raids, and those who battle competitively.” She told the other maestro. “Raiders hunt scherzando, Competitive battlers train their resonators to fight other resonators.”  
  
“Rebecca and I fall more on the raiding side, and really we did it more for the extra spending money than anything. I don’t think I could make a career out of it to be totally honest.” Colette paused for a moment, looking at the groggy woman sitting across from her. “Why do you ask?” she decided on.  
  
Sonia allowed her head to fall to the table. “There’s just a lot of shit to remember and I don’t know how they do it.”  
  
“Just comes with practice.” Colette replied. She took a sip of her drink before setting her glass down. “A few of my friends back home were super into competitive and started travelling to tournaments.” Her expression fell. “I should have talked to them more.” She muttered.  
  
Silence  
  
“Buongiorno a tutti.” Blakki yawned as she and her own maestro returned to the table. “You okay?” Rebecca asked. A clap of thunder followed this question. The lunar resonator flinched. “I’ll manage.”  
  
“We should get going. The sooner we get going, the sooner we can get back here and relax.” Shouri commented. The others nodded in agreement and shuffled out towards the front of the resort. Shouri ran out into the rain to grab the car.  
  
Even though it was dark outside, one could make out the clouds moving above them. The air was humid being carried by the intermittent winds that whipped around them. There was a distinct chill in the air. The sky flashed with lightning that arced amongst the clouds. It smelled of rain.  
  
Rebecca glanced over at Blakki, who looked more on edge the further Shouri got away from her. “You sure you’re okay?” The fire resonator asked her lunar counterpart. She grimaced, holding her head. “Head hurts a bit suddenly… dunno why.” Blakki closed her eyes tightly, massaging her temple  
  
The fire fox watched her companion grind her teeth further, seemingly in pain. Her red ears twitched, catching a sound in the distance. The car starting. Oddly as the car rolled up, Blakki’s expression calmed until she was back to neutral.  
  
With the sound of the car unlocking as the starting gun the group rushed around the car and all jumped in, getting a bit dampened in the process. As soon as the doors were shut the fire-elemental of the group voiced her disdain: “This is ridiculous! L'ultera is supposed to be a desert! Why is it raining so hard?!”  
  
Shouri adjusted his rear-view mirror to look at the disgruntled Rebecca. “It’s probably the instrument, now that I think about it.” He spoke up. “Kinda like how the Blaze Lyre melted the snow off of Mt. Shasta, the Flash Melodica is probably the cause of the lightning storm.” The boy theorized.  
  
“Gee thanks.” Blakki grumbled, arms folded across her chest. Shouri glanced over at his girlfriend, who held herself tighter, head down as she avoided looking at the lightning. He retrained his vision back on the slick roads ahead of them. The car fell to silence as the sound of the rain hitting the car remained as a persistent white noise in the background, the rumbles of thunder loud enough to penetrate the barrier of the vehicle for the sole purpose of breaking up the monotony.  
  
Thankfully, they weren’t too far away from their destination. The car came to a stop in a little clay parking lot. “Hrm, that’s weird.” Colette spoke up, looking at her tuner.  
  
“What’s that?” Rebecca looked to her maestro, a slight bit of concern in her voice.  
“Well this place has two names? I see it’s Ayer’s Rock, but also Uluru?” She asked.  
“Ayer’s Rock is the name given to it when Europeans found it. Uluru is the name given to it by the Aboriginal people who originally lived here well before the colonists found it. The official name is actually Uluru/Ayers Rock as silly as it seems.” Shouri explained.  
  
“Wow, you sure did your research.” Colette gasped.  
“Five minutes in google to be honest; I noticed the weird naming thing and wanted to know why.” The boy shrugged, not thinking too much of it. “Go figure it’s just another dose of colonial era stupidity.”  
  
He focused his attention on the mass of land that stood ominously overhead, with its gargantuan stature being illuminated by the surrounding lightning storm. “Uluru is supposed to be sacred – I just hope we don’t piss off a creation god or something.” Shouri grumbled.  
  
“I mean the fact that the Flash Melodica chose this location to appear must have some kind of significance, right?” Sonia asked.  
  
“I guess – Just wish they all could have just shown up around home. This whole travel the world thing is getting tiring quickly.” The male maestro complained, leaning on the steering wheel.  
  
Blakki’s eyes glowed a dull blue as she glared out at the dirt path ahead. The safety of the car was keeping them warm and dry right now, but they would have to leave the comfort of their vehicle and brave the elements if they wanted to achieve their goal. The rhythm in Blakki’s eyes wavered as lightning flashed overhead, reminding her of the harsh conditions outside.  
  
“Uhg, this is gonna suck.” Shouri sighed.  
“Let’s just change the weather.” Colette suggested.  
  
Silence.  
  
“Oh yeah, magic fox girls, right.”  
  
Rebecca rolled down her window as Colette navigated to her spell list. “Raggia del Sahara.” The fire resonator folded her hands together, gathering the rhythm she was provided into a red ball of light before unleashing it into the sky. She hastily rolled up the window while the orb made its ascent into the clouds.  
  
The group watched the clouds for a moment, waiting for a sudden break in them to appear. However, the storm raged on, totally disregarding the spell they had cast. “That blows.” Blakki grumbled, folding her arms across her chest once more and slouching in her seat. Shouri took note of his partner’s change in disposition, but left it at that.  
  
“We gotta get going. If we lose this one, it’s pretty much over.” Vinci piped up, kicking his own door open.  
  
With a sigh, Shouri unbuckled his seatbelt. “Yeah, I suppose.”  
  
Blakki bit her bottom lip, there was a definite hesitation. She didn’t want to go out there. It was horrible. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, but the maelstrom of her thoughts calmed when Shouri grabbed her hand. “It’s okay to be afraid.” Shouri spoke gently.  
  
“I wish I knew _why_ I was afraid of lightning.”  
“Our first loss was against a lightning Scherzando, maybe it was that.”  
“No, I feel like it’s deeper than that.”  
  
The two remained quiet. “Either way I’m here for you.” He decided on. “Thanks Sho.” She smiled. Finally, it was time to brave the storm. Exiting the car, the pair were immediately assailed by the cold, piercing rain. Visibility was poor at best; however, they could make out where the rest of the group was from the steam cloud that Rebecca was producing from being in the rain.  
  
“She’s literally like fire huh?!” Shouri shouted over the rain.  
“I can’t really imagine what that’s like!” Blakki shouted back. The ground was slick, each step had to be managed carefully otherwise she’d lose her balance.  
  
The group would convene under a rocky outcropping to figure out their next move. “Uhg, this fucking sucks.” Rebecca grumbled, shivering herself.  
  
“I thought you had heat and cold protection.” Shouri pointed out. “Water is my weakness; it gets around all my natural defenses.” The fire resonator replied, attempting to squeegee out her thoroughly soaked tail.  
  
Sonia pulled her tuner from her side. Shaking the water off of the device she looked to her resonator who simply nodded. “Pasticcio Rallentando.” The maestro called out. Vinci stepped towards the edge of their covering, unleashing a sound dampening wave. The boy hummed, removing his hat and ringing it out while he took stock of where they were in relation to where they needed to be. He nodded shortly to himself before replacing his hat on his head. Sonia walked up to the dog-boy. “Well?”  
  
“I definitely felt it pulling me up there.” He pointed to the top of the sacred rock. The rest of the group joined the pair. Shouri and Blakki caught what the clouds were doing, “The eye of the storm.” Shouri breathed out.  
  
“Hm?” The pair of girls with mere human ears turned their attention to the boy. “There’s an opening in the clouds and its rotating around the top of the rock, like the eye of a hurricane.” His gaze remained on the eye in question. “It’s definitely up there.”  
  
“How do we get up there though? This thing is a vertical rock face and there’s no ladder that I can see.” Colette asked.  
  
“Hey what’s that?” Blakki pointed to something in the distance. Shouri would be the only one able to see what she was talking about. “Wait a second… that chain shouldn’t be there.” He muttered, something felt horribly wrong about this.  
  
“A chain?” Sonia immediately grimaced at the idea of that.  
“Sounds like we don’t have a choice. Does it go all the way up?” Vinci asked.  
Shouri nodded, dismissing the convenience of the chain being there. “Looks like it.”  
  
“Let’s get this fucking over with.” Rebecca was the first to head back out into the rain. Colette would follow along with Sonia and Vinci.  
  
This left the lunar pair alone once again. Shouri looked to his partner, who flinched with a flash of lightning overhead. “Are you okay?”  
  
“No.” Before he could say another word, she stepped out into the rain. The boy would follow his girlfriend with great concern.  
  
The group of six reached the chain relatively quickly and began their ascent. Thankfully while steep, the incline wasn’t completely impossible, and the chain was mainly there to ensure they could keep their bodies level. The unfortunate part was the sheer height of Urulu. It was a massive structure and it would require a sizable investment of energy and stamina from normal people to be able to make the climb.  
  
The group was definitely in better shape than most people. Nightly fights with an extensive amount of running about and all the climbing they had done in the past couple of months had given them plenty of stamina to play around with. The problem was the nature of this climb. Being forced to hold onto a chain while they made the ascent in the rain was nothing short of a trial.  
  
About halfway up the climb however, something happened.  
  
CRACK BOOOOOM!  
  
A huge bolt of lightning struck dangerously close to where the group was on the rock-face. Blakki totally lost it.  
  
“I CAN’T! I CAN’T! NON POSSO! NON POSSO!? PERCHÉ ME?!” In her panic she let go of the chain, causing her to tumble back. “BLAKKI!” Shouri jumped after his partner who began to fall. He managed to scoop her up before she hit the hard rock under her, but he himself had to land on his shoulder. The tribulations weren’t done yet as now that they had both released the chain, there was very little keeping them in place. The duo began to roll down the side of the rock, only coming to a stop when Rebecca had flown down and physically stopped them with her own body.  
  
“SHO! SHO! SHO!” Blakki cried out repeatedly, clinging to her maestro for dear life. The uncaring, merciless rain continuing to pound them. 


	71. Chapter 71

The rain continued to fall, ignorant and unmoved by the drama below the clouds. Some time had passed and the group slowly resumed, though Sonia and Rebecca would sense the emotional weight that was dragging Blakki (and by extension Shouri) down.   
  
As the group climbed however, the rain began to lessen, until finally:  
  
“We’re in the eye now.” Shouri spoke up. There was still a bit more climbing to do, but at least they could start drying off now. It wouldn’t take too much longer from that point for them to reach the peak of the rock. A cold wind blew down on them as they looked out to the horizon. Sonia trembled slightly from the chilling winds. “Vinci, where is it?” She asked.   
  
“Should be nearby. I felt it pretty close to here.” The resonator replied.  
  
The group wandered around the top of the rock for a bit. The storm cloud overhead continued circling in place, allowing the group to continue drying off for the moment.   
  
“Pasticcio Rallentando.”   
“This way.”  
  
With that, the group was now under the direction of Sonia and Vinci. They walked along the top of sacred rock. Unfortunately, for the already worn out group it wasn’t completely even, so minor bits of climbing had to be done here and there. They eventually reached their prize: A small yellow piano-like instrument laid on the ground nearby.   
  
Before they could make their approach, a fog began to surround them. The trio of maestros pulled their tuners from their sides, their resonators stepping in front of them, ready to fight.   
  
A lone figure walked out from the mist. A woman clad in green musketeer outfit. She stopped her advance when she was in full view, a hand resting on the rapier at her side. Her leopard tail swishing back and forth behind her, the circular ears on the top of her head matching in pattern. Her green eyes gazed upon the trio of maestros before her.   
  
Shouri eyed their battlefield. It was just this lone woman. She looked to be a resonator just like their own - but something was off.   
  
“Greetings.” She spoke. Her voice was firm, strong, carrying a considerable authority to it. “You must be the holders of the Blaze Lyre” The group tensed further upon hearing those words. “To push our group to the point of our direct intervention – that’s no easy feat.” She drew her rapier from her side. “That is why, I must honor you with my presence.”  
  
“Blakki, come back.” Shouri muttered. The girl gritted her teeth, but followed her maestro’s quiet command, stepping backwards slowly.   
  
“I, Artemis of the Noble Swords challenge you!” That would be all the warning the group would get. They wouldn’t even have time to process what she had just declared before they were attempting to fight. Rebecca was the first to feel the sting of the rapier, the thin metal whipping across her. Despite not completely depleting her rhythm defenses, blood was drawn.   
  
“Lanci-” Sonia wouldn’t finish her command before Vinci too got a taste of the weapon. A blue aura washed over the battlefield suddenly. “Bolide, Forte Staccatissimo!” Artemis had to jump over the fireball instead of investigating the strange light. Rebecca rushed in, her feet ablaze as she fired several fireballs. The ethereal jumped backwards, attempting to dodge. However, her ears twitched as she caught a command being issued from Sonia.  
  
“Pasticcio Accelerando!”  
  
And suddenly the fireballs were much larger and more intense.   
  
BOOM  
  
Rebecca came to a stop, panting hard, watching the blaze she had started. In an instant the fire was sliced away and Artemis was on the attack again. However, Rebecca intercepted. Foot met blade as Rebecca kept the Piercing Noble Sword plenty busy, parrying her attacks with blazing limbs.  
  
“You have quite the mastery of those wings!” Artemis shouted.  
“I’ve had plenty of practice!” Rebecca managed to get out.   
  
Despite being on somewhat even footing with the ethereal, Rebecca put more and more into her attacks. Vinci would join in, throwing a blade of fire into the mix. Artemis had no choice but to dodge this. “Sir Isaac would be proud of such a sharp blade!” At that moment a flurry of leaves, Foglie a Lame appeared around the ethereal. However, the scope and scale of this attack was much larger than any of the maestros or resonators had ever seen before.   
  
The rain of leaves descended upon them like the storm clouds that surrounded their battlefield.   
  
“Pasticcio Rallentando!” Sonia cried out.   
  
Even with the rhythm dampening attack and Rebecca’s fire, the leaves still got through, practically burying the two resonators in it. Artemis nodded, but was taken by surprise when another blade of fire flew in her direction. What’s more, Rebecca was already back on the attack again, just as furious as before.   
  
Now the ethereal was on the back foot, being completely on the defensive when before she had good control of the situation. She kept parrying Rebecca’s attacks while keeping a careful eye on Vinci. The dog boy needed to go down first. Even as a null-element he had a double weakness over her and that was obviously what they were trying to achieve.   
  
With her plan in mind, Artemis dropped a tree to throw Rebecca off and darted at Vinci. The boy made a couple valiant slices at the ethereal, but ultimately missed. She drew her blade back and thrust it forward. Something strange happened though – Her blade bent back upon making contact with the boy. He smirked, now with his target in point blank range, he unleashed the strongest Lanciafiamme he could muster, while at the same time Rebecca nailed Artemis with a Bolide.   
  
The veteran was too proud to let out a cry of pain, but she did retreat from the current engagement, throwing down a dozen or so large trees to make some distance between her and her attackers.   
  
As she threw herself backwards, she noticed something that she hadn’t accounted for before: the lunar resonator was missing. Where was she? Keeping focus on the persistent Vinci and Rebecca, the ethereal scanned the battlefield where she could. Finally, she caught it: The male maestro was munching on some kind of fruit, keeping his eye on Artemis, while his resonator was kneeling next to him head down, hands folded as if in prayer.   
  
It all added up in an instant. The first blow the fire resonator took was a feint to make her think that they could be damaged; in reality, they had planned to use that – the healing ultimate, in order to be able to charge as recklessly as they were. The woman smirked. They knew their odds and played the battlefield masterfully. These mere children were worthy of her praise for sure.   
  
Sadly, for the mortals however, that just intensified Artemis’ lust for battle. She had to see this to a satisfying conclusion, but the first order of business was to break through healing ultimate. With a wave of her hand an ash storm started. Rebecca gasped, entranced by the casting of the spell. She’d shake this off a bit too late as Artemis and the rest of the battlefield vanished in the hot cloud of ash.   
  
Rebecca’s ears twitched as she tried to keep track of where Artemis was in the reduced visibility state, however it was proving difficult because of how lightly the woman could step.  
  
“Raggia del Sahara!”   
  
The fire resonator skidded to a halt, gathering rhythm in her hands before launching an orb of red rhythm into the sky. After a moment, the ash storm cleared – but it was too late.  
  
“Blakki!”  
  
The lunar resonator opened her eyes, then they widened in shock. She could see the tip of a rapier, going straight through her maestro.   
  
“SHO!”  
  
“GET AWAY FROM HIM!” Rebecca rushed in once again, violently attacking Artemis and forcing her away from the lunar duo.   
  
The boy fell backwards into Blakki’s arms. “F-fuck that hurt.” The boy coughed, holding his gut. Blakki could see the red slowly enveloping his jacket, spreading from the impact point. The girl shook her head, tears streaming down her face.   
  
“La Bella Vita, Lento Tutti.” Shouri whispered to her. He moved his hands away from the wound, allowing her to cover the literal hole in his body. Her hands glowed as she channeled the Lento-Level healing spell through her maestro. The pain lessened but it was still present and Blakki could sense that. “Again.” She sniveled, trying to keep herself together (and failing).  
  
“La Bella Vita, Lento Tutti.” He repeated. After a moment, he relaxed as the pain had completely stopped.   
  
They’d have no time to rest though- “Rebecca!” -as a cry from Colette drew their attention. They caught sight of the fire-maestro rushing over to where Rebecca laid on the ground. Vinci was currently attempting to fight off Artemis, but was rapidly losing ground. Before Shouri and Blakki had a chance to get up to help, a flurry of Foglie a Lame instantly pinned them back down.   
  
“Vinci!”   
  
And now Vinci was down as well with Artemis was walking towards the healing pair. “You’ve done exceptionally well. It’s been a few hundred years since anyone has managed to put up such a valiant fight.” She declared to her adversaries.   
  
Blakki gritted her teeth, holding Shouri tighter. Colette and Sonia held onto Rebecca and Vinci respectively, the two resonators totally unmoving.   
  
This wasn’t fair. Rebecca and Vinci were knocked out, maybe even worse, and that ethereal was coming their way. Blakki knew that Artemis had figured out their entire strategy. There was no way the Noble Sword would allow Blakki and Shouri to go scot free. If Artemis was going for fatal blows, they’d be the first to receive their death sentence.  
  
But what could they even do in this situation? Their best, well thought out strategy was totally worthless. Even their ultimate level spell was utterly useless now. She had to fight somehow. Her gaze fell down on Shouri who was glaring at the approaching ethereal, his hand gripping their tuner tightly. No, THEY had to fight somehow.  
  
 _“You’ve done it before, so it should be easy”_  
  
Blakki froze in place, eyes wide, the voice in her head spoke clearly. It wasn’t Shouri, Colette, or anyone she even knew. Whoever this voice was…  
  
 _“Just remember, that even after you’ve done everything you possibly could have, there’s one more weapon, one more tool left in your arsenal.”  
  
_ She moved, it wasn’t like when Shouri commanded her; no this was more instinctual than that. Her very soul moved her body, aligning in the correct position. Her hand reached out, taking hold of her maestro’s hand, with their tuner between the interlocked digits.   
  
“Sho…”  
“Blakki…?”  
  
“We’re gonna be okay.”  
“I know; I trust you.”  
  
There was a certain warmth extending from their joined digits and growing from where they were connected. Their lips moved in unison as they made a declaration:  
  
“Tempo Accendere!” _  
  
_A bright, blinding light expanded out from the pair, engulfing them instantly.  
  
When the light cleared only one figure remained. On their feet they stood, adorned in what appeared to be traditional monk robes and pants. The black robes seemed to glisten even in the darkness around them. The creature had long jet-black hair, tied up into a high, thin ponytail, which swayed in the wind around their mid-back. Their twin black fox tails hanging loosely just below. The 108 rosary beads that hung around their neck moved amongst themselves every so often, clacking about. Finally, this being opened their eyes. One blue, one yellow, their black fox ears standing up.   
  
Taking in a breath, they finally spoke:   
  
“Shouri et Blakki, à deux!”  
  
“T-two spoken of as one…” Colette breathed out, her eyes wide. “It all makes sense now.”  
  
Artemis stopped in place and stared at this new creature. It smelled… like her – an ethereal. That was the sense she got. Whatever just happened, whatever those two just became, this wasn’t a fun game anymore - playtime was over.   
  
They glared down Artemis, who in turn tightened her grip on her blade. The ethereal eased up after a moment, a smirk forming on her face. “What shall I call you, warrior?”  
  
“Shouri” His voice spoke out  
“Or Blakki.” Her voice was next.   
  
“We’re both here.” They spoke in unison.   
  
Artemis chuckled, then broke down into full out laughter. “Amazing! Amazing!” She shouted. “I must thank you for giving me the honor of fighting your true power.” The ethereal of Piercing would allow herself to relax only for a moment longer before leveling her blade in front of her, pointing at her new opponent. “En garde!” Artemis moved much faster than she had before. Colette watched in awe as the green blur easily cleared the distance between her and her opponent.   
  
CLANG  
  
In less time than the blink of an eye, the stab was parried. In that mere split second the rosary beads around Shouri/Blakki’s neck broke free and formed into a straight line, with the moon pendant acting as the cross guard.   
  
CLANG CLANG CLANG  
  
The two fighters traded blows, the rosary beads holding up as if they were made of solid metal. Shouri/Blakki held their freehand close to their body.  
  
“Luce Lunare-” Artemis’ eyes went wide as the ball of lunar energy formed in her adversary’s hand. “-Fortissimo!” There was an explosion of what appeared to be bark? However, within the explosion the ethereal jumped away, putting distance between her and her opponent.   
  
“Tch!” The fused duo clicked their teeth in frustration. They had seen Artemis’ body turn entirely to what looked like tree bark as soon as they threw their attack forward. With a snap of her fingers thick roots shot out of the ground and ensnared Shouri/Blakki instantly. Thorns dug into their body earning a cry of pain from the pair.   
  
Artemis wouldn’t let up as with another snap of her finger a tree instantly sprung up from the earth and she kicked the entire thing at the still trapped pair. Before the attack hit, Shouri/Blakki easily slipped out of the thorny entrapments, the rosary beads floating in the air and creating a platform underneath them to allow them to stand in the sky. From their new vantage point they began taking potshots at Artemis who countered the blows with her bark armor spell. Having enough of being on the defensive the ethereal summoned a storm of leaves, which assaulted the floating platform Shouri/Blakki was standing on.  
  
As they plummeted back towards the earth Artemis flew across the battlefield and jumped after them. They called their falling rosary beads back, but before they could form any kind of defense, Artemis was already on the attack. She struck them dozens of times with the tip of her rapier. The hits were mostly dampened by the thick clothing worn by Shouri and Blakki’s fused form, however the damage was only lessened, not totally mitigated. And now that Artemis had this combo going she wasn’t going to drop it easily.   
  
“Get away from them!” Suddenly Artemis was forced to retreat by Rebecca, who had rejoined the fight.   
  
“What?! When did she-?!” That’s when Artemis noticed a small cluster of about eighteen or so of the rosary beads circling around Vinci and Sonia, the wounds vanishing from their bodies.   
  
“Clever.” Artemis skidded to a halt. Shouri/Blakki glared at the ethereal, their body slowly moving up and down with each drawn out haggard breath. While it didn’t show in through their robes, the blood kept flowing from their wounds, and eventually started staining their beige pants. Rebecca stood at the ready, on the tips of her toes, ready to ignite her heels at a moment’s notice.   
  
With a swish of her rapier several mushrooms appeared on the field and unleashed a cloud of spores. Blakki/Shouri stood transfixed by the strange, glowing mushrooms that were spawned before them. They shook off their trance just in time to watch Rebecca fall to her knees, before she fell onto her side, unmoving. Artemis rushed the fused pair again. They were still bleeding but wouldn’t have time to heal off the damage. With all of their beads returned to them, they re-engaged Artemis in a sword duel. In between blows they managed to steal a glance over at Sonia and Vinci – they were both slumped over each other, unconscious.  
  
“God damn it!” Shouri/Blakki cried out. “Mente Offuscata, Fortissimo!” Artemis winced for a second at the massive mental attack cast on her. This tiniest of reprieves gave the combined pair the time to get their second spell out: “Nuvola Oscura, Lento!!”   
  
Artemis took a swing at the pair, but lost them in the rapidly expanding cloud of darkness. The leopard ethereal composed herself, standing still. “Heh, this fight has been full of surprises.” She muttered. Despite her ears not being nearly good as her canine counterparts, she still could hear around her. What bothered her was the lack of direct attacks towards her. “I guess I have to use that.” Stabbing her rapier into the ground, she pushed her hands together. “Artemis Arktoi, Ultrissimo.” She spoke quietly.  
  
Ten trees spawned in the darkness surrounding her, and then rapidly became wood bears. A cluster of four stayed around Artemis herself, keeping watch in the cardinal directions, the other six went on the hunt.   
  
“Cancella il Ritmo!” She heard her opponents shout from within the cloud. There was no way they could use a _mere_ healing spell to disperse an ultimate level spell.  
  
THWACK!  
  
And then Artemis felt one of the bears in her employ disappear. It seemed they _could_ use a healing spell to remove her summons from this plane. The cloud began to clear from the battlefield, allowing Artemis to watch her second bear fall. Shouri/Blakki were squared up against the bear. They had adopted a pose like that of a boxer, even going as far to bounce slightly, despite wearing a pair of geta. Fifty-four of the rosary beads were wrapped around each fist, turning the 108 beads into essentially stone knuckles. As the second bear made a swing on the monk-clad fusion, they would duck down, and deliver an uppercut to the bear.  
  
Normally this was when the bear would convert the damage into further energy and use that energy to fuel a more intense volley.  
  
However-  
  
“Cancella il Ritmo!”  
  
-The bear would explode into bits of wood and leaves, and everything made sense to the ethereal. “Everyone at once!” The bears all diverted from their positions and charged at the boxing monk. “Cancella il Ritmo!” The third bear fell but only so the fourth and fifth bears could get punches of their own in: one winding the pair and the other smacking them into the ground hard. They would use their new position on the ground to grab the bear’s legs- “Cancella il Ritmo!” -and pop them like balloons. There was no rest for the wicked though, as more bears were coming, this time attempting to dog pile the grounded pair.   
  
Shouri/Blakki would spin onto their back and force the teeth of their geta straight into the “gut” of the two airborne bears. “Cancella il Ritmo!” Another two went down with that, leaving three remaining. “Magifiamma, Legato!”  
  
Artemis was surprised for a brief moment – they had the Lunar-Fire Ossia the entire time, but why use it at this moment? She couldn’t really see what happened to the spell due to the summoned wood bears obscuring her vision.   
  
It seemed that it didn’t do anything as the bears dog-piled their target.   
  
But that was a costly assumption to make as out of nowhere Artemis was struck in the back by seven balls of fire. “GAH!” The woman fell to her knees, looking up quickly to see Shouri/Blakki finishing off the last bear, worse for wear. “Magifiamma, Legato!”  
  
Seven more orbs of ghostly fire appeared around the pair and they all immediately flew at the recovering ethereal. The woman rolled backwards to dodge the first couple of flames and positioned herself to spring away from the remaining for. “Magifiamma, Legato!”  
  
A third volley came in her direction. As she landed, another spell met her ears, and her mind:  
  
“Mente Offuscata, Fortissimo!”  
  
“GAAAAH!” As the mental attack tore at her concentration, Artemis was pelted by all seven orbs of fire. Her body felt hot, the singe from the Magifiamma having afflicted its curse on her. She needed to make some time, the singeing along with the residual damage from the artificial sun would take its toll. Once more, she understood her adversaries’ strategy. Drawing her rapier, she swung it, spreading thick pollen into the air. Before it even reached her enemy, she held her rapier like a violin and began to play it as if it was an instrument.   
  
Not only did a soothing melody play from the rapier, but a sweet scent filled the air along with the pollen. Shouri/Blakki were hit by the double dose of concentration-altering spells. The sound first hit their sensitive ears, immediately halting their assault. They grabbed their ears to try and block out the sound, but in focusing on that, the pollen was allowed to reach them, doubling down on the effect.   
  
Seizing the opportunity, Artemis stuck her rapier into the ground, and held out her arms, taking in the artificial sunlight. She felt some of her strength return to her as she restored some of her lost health. Then she clapped her hands together and produced a small bundle of fruit which she heartily consumed. With the consumption of the fruit, she felt the heat dissipate from her body.   
  
“Cancella il Ritmo!”  
  
The pollen cleared up upon the declaration of that spell. Drawing her rapier from the ground she faced down her opponent once more.   
  
Shouri/Blakki gulped. They could practically feel their hair whitening. Their entire ponytail was now colorless, leaving only the hair at the base of their head black. This battle had been incredibly costly to get to this point, and yet Artemis had just healed off a chunk of the damage they had done. Their ears twitched. There was a certain sound that had hit them. It was at that moment that their fused duo committed to their all or nothing gambit.  
  
They rushed at the ethereal. She met their rush with a thrust of her rapier. But rather than dodge it, they took the blow in their shoulder. From point blank range, they began their frenzied attack.  
  
“Mente Offuscata, Fortissimo!”  
“Mente Offuscata, Fortissimo!”  
“Mente Offuscata, Fortissimo!”  
“Mente Offuscata, Fortissimo!”  
“Mente Offuscata, Fortissimo!”  
  
Five times they assaulted the mind of the ethereal known as Artemis of the Noble Swords. Each blow compounding on the last. “AAAGH!” The woman kicked the pair away, as they flew backwards, their fusion ended, the pair of bodies flying backwards along with their tuner. Before Shouri hit the ground, he used all of his remaining breath on one last shout:  
  
“NOW!”  
  
Artemis sensed the approach of another adversary – Rebecca. Her feet blazing wildly. The ethereal’s head was still swirling from the multiple powerful mental attacks in rapid succession. She held up her rapier to parry the fox.  
  
“SCINTILLA DI CIVILTÀ, ULTRISSIMO!”  
  
Artemis’ eyes widened. Time slowed to a crawl as she watched the fire fox put her hands together by the wrists, palms out. At point blank range Rebecca unleashed the strongest beam of fire she could muster, completely engulfing the musketeer within its civilization ending flames. She aimed to hold it for as long as she could. “DON’T STOP REBECCA!” Colette screamed even as her hair rapidly began to lose its color.   
  
After another couple seconds Rebecca dropped the attack, having spent nearly all of her maestro’s rhythm in the process. Seeing there was nothing left from where their enemy had once been, the fire resonator finally allowed her fatigue to catch up to her and she fell to her knees, barely catching herself from slamming her face into the rocky ground underneath her.   
  
“Shouri! Blakki!”  
  
It took quite a bit of effort for Rebecca to raise her head to see what Sonia was shouting about. Sonia herself was frantically checking over the two bodies that laid nearby. Finally after a moment, she placed her hands on their chests and rapidly drained her own rhythm. Rebecca could see there was no significant change in Shouri or Blakki’s condition, their hair was still completely white.   
  
Sonia sat back on her knees, her own hair now totally white. She pulled out one of the apples she kept and rapidly devoured it down to the core, her hair reigniting with color. She once again drained herself nearly dry trying to make something happen with Shouri and Blakki. After the second go around she sat back and wiped her brow. From Rebecca’s position it didn’t look like much changed, but Sonia wasn’t panicking anymore. There was just a little bit of red in her own hair.  
  
Colette hobbled over to her resonator and offered a hand. Rebecca noted her maestro’s hair was nearly all white, just like most of the other group.   
  
In fact, as she got up, she noticed Vinci was the only member of their group with no visible white in his hair. Being the healthiest member of the group, he had taken on the task of retrieving the Flash Melodica, which he was currently looking over.  
  
“We got kind of fucked up huh?” Rebecca asked.   
“We got LUCKY. There’s no way we should have won that.” Colette spoke wearily.  
  
The scattered group would congregate around Shouri and Blakki’s unmoving bodies. Upon closer inspection a very small amount of color had been brought back to their hair, and they were breathing, but that was about it.  
  
“So I’m not complaining, but what the hell was that?” Vinci asked.  
  
“I think it’s the unknown miracle.” Colette spoke quietly, staring at the unmoving bodies of her friends that laid before her. “Basically, we have an old legend in our world that’s written very strangely. The Hero in the legend speaks as if they’re multiple people, but the person recounting the story talks like there was only one person there.” The group fell silent for a moment.   
  
“They were so powerful.” Rebecca added. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Her mind drifted, wondering if she could do that with Colette.   
  
The fog rapidly cleared as a new sound drew the group’s attention skyward, a familiar sound to Colette and Rebeca graced their hearing: helicopter blades. Several huge flying machines descended upon the group. “Freeze! You’re under arrest!” came over the loud speakers affixed to the outside.  
  
“Fuck.”


	72. Chapter 72

“Well, this blows.” Rebecca grumbled, sitting in a jail cell. She rubbed the base of her now sore tail, as the officers that arrested them assumed it was some kind of costume and tried to remove it by force. The only thing stopping her from round house kicking the officer in the head were the firearms trained on them (and her own exhaustion).  
  
What was worse was they separated the group into different holding cells. They were tiny, with barely enough room to even stretch out. But at least there was a bed. And at this point, Rebecca was so tired, that even the hard “mattress” was a luxury she wouldn’t pass up. Plopping down on the provided bed she closed her eyes for a moment.  
  
Some time later, Rebecca would awaken to the sounds of her cell door opening. She groggily sat up. Immediately her body was heavy. The exhaustion from their battle that day was hitting her hard. She didn’t know how much time had passed since she closed her eyes, but it was significant enough time that she could hear many more people in the building than when they had arrived.  
  
“Hands please.”  
  
Deciding she was still too weak to actually resist, the vixen complied, holding out her arms for the officer. With a new pair of shiny handcuffs adorning her wrists she was led into an interrogation room. Despite being from a different world the police stations here reminded her of the ones she would see on television in her own world.  
  
And just like the crime dramas she watched in her own world, an officer would enter the room alone with a clipboard. He took a seat across from her.  
  
“So Miss-” He paused for her to answer.  
“Rebecca.” She replied curtly  
  
The officer waited for a last name. After a moment of silence, it was clear one wasn’t coming. “Rebeccaaaa?”  
  
Rebecca grunted in annoyance. That’s right, she was in a different world now; so she had to explain things that were common sense in her world. “Resonators don’t get to keep their family names.” She glanced down at the clipboard laying on the table. It had some kind of form attached and her name was written already. With an eye roll she spoke further. “I guess if you need to put something down you can use “Renard” that was my clan name.” She replied.  
  
“Okay Miss Renard, what were you doing on Uluru?”  
“Retrieving a lost instrument.”  
“Uh-huh. That melodica we seized upon your arrest. If your story is to be believed: how did it get up there anyways? Uluru has been closed for climbs since 2019.”  
“I don’t friggin know. We’re just told where they’re at and we go.”  
“Told by who.”  
“Sahji.”  
“Sahji?”  
“The wish sage Sahji?”  
  
Earning a blank look from the officer, Rebecca grimaced. She once again forgot she was in another world. “Uhg, this is annoying.” She decided. The officer flipped through a couple of other pages. “According to the report we took, the climbing chains were re-installed on Uluru. Did you have anything to do with that?”  
  
Rebecca’s eyes widened as she stared at the officer. “Wait a sec. What do you mean “reinstalled”? Those chains weren’t supposed to be there?”  
  
Raising an eyebrow the officer folded his hands on the table. “No, the chains were removed in 2019 after it was decided to ban climbing of Uluru. It’s sacred to the Aboriginal people who live in this area. By all rights it’s their rock, and they can decide what happens with it.” He explained.  
  
“There was also a significant amount of damage to the top of the rock. We couldn’t find any weapons any of your persons to have caused that. Would you care to explain?”  
  
The line of questioning only served to enervate the fire resonator, as she would have to explain basically everything from the top. What’s more, due to the state of her rhythm, she couldn’t really get a read on this guy - her usual social awareness dulled she simply grew irritable. “This is annoying; can you just throw me back in my cell?” Rebecca grumbled. “Not until we get some answers.” The officer remained stern in their approach. The fire resonator very briefly considered just using her class skill to throw this guy off completely. She had recovered enough rhythm to make use of it after all. Before they could continue their rousing discussion however, the door opened.  
  
A woman in a black business suit walked in to the room. Rebecca stared, not at the sunglasses she wore, or her deep red tie, but the green tuner clipped to her lapel.  
  
The interrogator immediately stood up to confront this individual. “Who are you?”  
  
Without missing a beat the woman whipped out a badge. “Cheryth Arkwright, current head of the UN Department of Inter-Dimensional Affairs. I’m here to take this lady into custody.”  
  
“What? You can’t just come in here waving badges and claiming to be some space lady. There are processes and procedures that-“  
  
With an amused smirk, Cheryth stepped out of the way to reveal the officer’s boss. “Let it go Jim, we’ve been getting calls from Canberra since we took them in. Some Men-In-Black situation going on here.” The officer turned to Rebecca who looked just as confused as he was, and finally he relented. The older man hung his shoulders before holding the keys for Rebecca’s cuffs out. “Fine.” He groaned. Cheryth accepted the keys, and with that, the officers departed the room, leaving the two women alone.  
  
“You’re a maestro?” Rebecca asked as the older woman approached her.  
“Sure am. I’m from this world. My partner is around here somewhere, probably getting on someone’s nerves; subverting authority is a bit of a pastime for him.” She knelt down and undid the hand-cuffs around Rebecca’s wrists. Finally released from her restraints, Rebecca rubbed her wrists practically tasting the freedom.  
  
However, Rebecca’s expectations were quickly put in check when Cheryth spoke up again: “Let’s gather up the others and get out of here.” The older woman smiled. Rebecca was a bit on edge since as far as she understood this was some secret government official and they didn’t have the best relations with big government organizations. However, the green tuner meant her resonator was a Nature element, meaning the fire resonator actually had the advantage if it did come down to a fight.  
  
“So why are you here lady?” Rebecca asked the pressing question as they walked down the hallway. “You all broke international law and got yourselves arrested. Of course, that can’t happen, so I had to come erase that event.” Cheryth replied.  
  
Those were definitely words. Unfortunately not a string of words Rebecca could piece together the meaning of. “What?” The resonator narrowed her eyes.  
  
“Oh, weak knowledge? Sorry. Basically, in this world, we erase resonators from the public eye. If you were to appear in any official record or even a social media post, we make it vanish. This world isn’t supposed to know about resonators.” Cheryth summarized for the resonator.  
  
“So why let us run around like we are?” Rebecca questioned.  
  
“Well from what I’ve been told, there was a bloody conflict involving resonators like eighty years ago, and since then the United Nations has kept a small off-the record division to keeping resonators secret.” She explained.  
  
“That doesn’t answer my question. Why can I walk around full ears and tail and no one says a word?”  
“This world is super desensitized to that kind of stuff now. We only have to expunge records of you guys using magic. Walking around with fox ears and a tail doesn’t really raise flags like it did back in the day.”  
  
“This world is weird.”  
“Cielto was saying something about you and your maestro both being from the other world, that’s true then?”  
“Yeah, but hold on a sec; you said Cielto – like the sky sage Cielto?”  
“The very same. He’s the sage that gave me my tuner.”  
  
The two came to a stop in front of the row of cells. Rebecca looked the woman over. “How old are you?” She questioned.  
  
“I’ll be thirty-five in a couple of weeks, why?” Cheryth asked with a raised eyebrow.  
“Damn you look good for your age.” Rebecca muttered under her breath. “Nothing, just curious.” She decided on.  
  
The pair walked down the hallway, Rebecca’s ears and tail earning various looks from the detained. She could feel the people staring at her were judging her. It made the vixen slightly uncomfortable. She wrapped her arms around herself, hunching over slightly as they walked. It felt like their stares were pulling her in – she wasn’t used to feeling like this, and it wore at her until she came to a stop and closed her eyes tightly.  
  
“You alright?” Cheryth asked, her voice snapping Rebecca out of the void she was being pulled into  
“Strong emotion sucks.” The fire resonator replied, wiping some built up tears from her eyes.  
“Your hair is still mostly white, and you’ve been among tacet for a while, so that makes sense.”  
  
Rebecca raised an eyebrow, unfamiliar with that term. Cheryth failed to elaborate and kept walking. “You know I’m weak knowledge damnit.” The younger girl grumbled. She’d see the older woman stop in front of one particular cell and wave her over.  
  
“Rebecca!” Colette rushed to the door upon catching sight of her resonator. As soon as Cheryth unlocked the cell door the maestro practically jumped into her resonator’s arms. “I was terrified they hurt you!” Colette cried out. “C-colette…” Rebecca breathed out, a bit in shock.  
  
Cheryth spoke up after allowing the reunited pair a moment together: “Let’s get a move on kids, we still have some more cells to visit.”  
  
“Oh, who are you?” Colette inquired, finally noticing the older woman (more specifically her green tuner).  
  
“Cheryth Arkwright, head of the UN Department of Inter-Dimensional Affairs.”  
“Are you on our side?”  
“As long as you’re not planning on using that lovely vixen to rob a bank, I’m all about being on your side.”  
  
Something felt wrong to Colette, she glanced back at the cell she had just spent five hours in. After weighing her options, she decided against extending her stay in the luxurious cell she had just spent her morning in. “Okay.” She nodded hesitantly. They began to walk to their next destination. With the new addition to the group, the inquiries began anew. “Where is Shouri and Blakki?” Colette was quick to ask.  
  
“They’re at a local hospital since they wouldn’t wake up. I called ahead and they should just be keeping them under observation – they’re not gonna try anything stupid unless they actually start dying” The elder maestro replied. Rebecca’s ears twitched and her brows descended upon hearing the small “hopefully” Cheryth had muttered.  
  
With that out of the way, they reached Sonia. Like both Rebecca and Colette, she was immediately on the defensive seeing her friends being paraded around with some suit. “What’s going on?” The seamstress asked, pointing at Cheryth. “She’s some government lady I think.” Rebecca replied as the door to the cell was opened.  
  
“Cheryth Arkwright, UN Department of Inter-Dimensional Affairs.”  
“That’s a thing?”  
“A very secret thing.”  
  
Sonia narrowed her eyes at that hell of a non-answer. She too, like the others, would glance back to her morning prison and decide that it was probably better to have some freedom than rot in a small cramped holding cell.  
  
“Cherry!”  
“Ah, what good timing.” Cheryth clapped her hands together as the group turned to the sound of the voice. A small boy in green and yellow with a long reptilian tail approached the group – notably he held a box. Following the small boy was-  
  
“Vinci!” Sonia ran to her partner and hugged him tightly. “Are you okay?!” She asked, holding the boy out at arms length  
  
“Yeah, I guess being a minor worked out for once, they let me hang out in the office while they tried to figure out what to do with me. Kinda cozy actually.”  
  
The fire-pair of the group shot the young boy some nasty glares. “Anyways-” He reached into the box the other boy was carrying and pulled out an apple, presenting it to his still burnt-out maestro along with their tuner. “-Haru and Cheryth have actually been here for a few hours, but I guess there was some red tape they had to get around?”  
  
And the glares were turned on Cheryth now. “Hey hey hey, I tried my best to get you guys out as quickly as I could.” The woman defended her honor from the ire of the young adults before her. “Let’s get out of here though. I’m sure you want to see Shouri and Blakki.”  
  
\---  
  
 _“Sho… what the heck did we do?”  
“I dunno Blakki, it wasn’t like before.”  
“Where are we now?”  
“Probably dead.”  
“Why is THAT your immediate go to?”  
“Just playing the odds, amor mio.”  
“What am I gonna do with you?”  
  
_Blakki opened her eyes slowly. Her entire body felt heavy; heavier than it had ever been, despite the thin hospital gown she had been changed into. She ached all over, though it was mostly centered in her head. Even trying to tap into her class skill hurt.She stared at the ceiling blankly _._  
  
 _“Sho?”_ She took a long shot. _  
_And it paid off. _“Yeah Blakki?”_ rang in her head.  
  
 _“Oh good, that came back. Where are you?”_ She thought to her boyfriend. _  
“Dunno, can’t move.”_ There was a pause in communication. _“Try saying something. Maybe you’re nearby.”_ He suggested mentally. _  
  
_The lunar resonator took in a breath “Sho?” She vocalized. That hurt as well. Using her body in any capacity was almost torturous at this point.  
  
 _“Did you hear me?”_  
 _“Not a peep; if I can get my arm to move I’ll try to summon a nurse.”  
“Oh, we’re in a hospital?”  
“Yeah, I can’t forget the ambient noise even if I wanted to.”  
“I just kinda tuned it out I guess.”  
  
_Blakki laid in silence for some time, her thoughts wandered as she wondered what happened to everyone. Last she knew they were fighting Artemis, and then they woke up here. It was then that the young resonator noticed her maestro couldn’t hear her idle thoughts, cause she knew he’d have commentary on the situation. Focusing on him, she projected her thoughts towards her partner in crime. _“How goes summoning that nurse?”_ She asked.  
  
 _“It’s hell.”  
“Don’t hurt yourself.”  
“If I knew where my tuner was I’d have you just heal yourself so you can come push this button for me”  
“Why are you so intent on this?”  
“I’m so fucking bored right now.”  
“You could talk to me.”  
“I suppose. Let me regale you in the story of the dancing plague of 1518.”  
  
\---  
  
_Rebecca chomped on an apple as they walked out to the vehicle that Cheryth had rented. “Man, I’m glad these things are here.” The vixen spoke between bites. “Hm?” Cheryth looked down at the resonator. “Apples aren’t a thing on the other side?” She questioned.  
  
“No, we don’t have a fruit like that.” Colette chimed in. “It seems perfectly normal too, it just somehow restores rhythm as we discovered.” The maestro added. Cheryth nodded. “That’s pretty common knowledge over here. I figured apples were all over the place in the other world.” She shrugged. Reaching the vehicle, the group piled in. It was a larger vehicle, a minivan from first glance with enough seats for eight people to be comfortable. With Cheryth in the driver’s seat and Haruki in the front passenger’s seat, the other four piled in the back and they were off.  
  
“Ms. Arkwright?”  
“Yes?”  
“Why do resonators come to this world?”  
  
Cheryth focused on the road, but seemed a bit lost in thought. “So, we don’t really know. Outside of a few select cases, they’re all the same: they show up one day with no memories of where they came from, just their name and some general knowledge, presumably from when they were in the other world.” Vinci nodded slowly, recalling his own arrival.  
  
“How weird.” Colette frowned, digesting that info.  
  
“From what we understand, there’s like breaks in space time or something that allow this to happen. It’s incredibly difficult to force this to happen unless you get the Orchestra of Heaven.”  
  
The quartet in the back all diverted their attention to Cheryth and stared at her blankly. “How do you know about that?” Vinci decided to ask the pertinent question.  
  
The older woman chuckled. “This isn’t the first time the Orchestra of Heaven has been scattered around the planet.”  
  
“WHAT?!”  
  
\----------  
  
“1975, Hokkaido, Japan; in a small city known as Nemuro a man and a woman appeared one day from the forest. They were confused, disoriented, but could get around the area thanks to the woman knowing how to speak Japanese.” Cheryth began. Colette and Rebecca looked at each other for a moment before turning their attention back to the driver.  
  
“The problem was the woman was in fact a resonator, a silver fox kind of like your friend.” Cheryth took another pause before continuing. “Naturally any resonator turning up requires the sage’s intervention, however from what I’ve read in the report, the sages were similarly baffled by these two. It seems they managed to fall through a crack in space time that isn’t like the other ones that normally deposit resonators in this world, the tear was so great it freed the Orchestra of Heaven and scattered them across the planet.”  
  
“What about the man and woman?” Sonia piped up.  
  
“Well, after speaking with Sahji, the wish sage, they were tasked with re-collecting the seven instruments. We're not certain why as the conversations were held in private and our agents at the time weren’t privy to those conversations.”  
  
The group digested this new info. “And did they succeed?” Vinci asked.  
  
“They did, they managed to collect the seven members of the Orchestra of Heaven and return them back to where they came from.”  
  
“And the maestro and resonator?” Rebecca questioned.  
  
“The report didn’t say. The records of their fate are purposefully obfuscated. Even in the records their names as well as the resonators element and attribute are conveniently left out. Whoever wrote it intentionally left these details out. They’re probably still in this world somewhere is my theory.”  
  
Colette frowned. “Okay, so back to my initial question: Why do resonators come to _this_ world in particular?” She decided on.  
  
Cheryth shrugged. “Like I said, nobody knows. If you’ve spent any time around any of the sages you know trying to get information out of them is like getting water out of a rock.” The woman laughed. She pulled the van into a parking space. “But ‘cause they end up here, we have a duty to look after them as guests in our world.” She reached over and ruffled Haruki’s hair. “You’re doing an okay job so far.” The nature resonator laughed.  
  
\---  
  
 _“-and so, after around two months, the plague was finally eliminated.”  
“I can’t believe people actually died from dancing to death.”  
“Yeah, mass psychogenic illness is pretty wacky like that.”  
“Wait, Sho, someone’s coming.”  
  
_Blakki opened her eyes just as a group of people began entering the room. There were quite a few people, which initially startled the barely functioning vixen (her heart monitor began beeping a touch bit faster to accompany this). However, she was able to relax when she saw it was her friends coming to greet her.  
  
“Blakki are you okay?” Colette gasped.  
  
The resonator’s hair was totally white, ears tail and all. What was even more shocking was the color had even drained from her normally vibrant blue eyes. “I put so much rhythm into them before and she’s still like this.” Sonia looked disheartened.  
  
“If I might ask, what even happened?” Cheryth chimed in.  
  
The four young adults looked between each other, then to Blakki who stared back blankly. “Truth be told, we don’t really know.” Rebecca admitted.  
  
“We fought Artemis of the Noble Swords and won.” Colette added.  
  
“Artemis? That sounds vaguely familiar.” Cheryth stroked her chin in thought.  
  
“She’s an ethereal. Specifically, the one that founded the Piercing attribute.” Colette replied.  
  
Cheryth’s eyes noticeably widened upon hearing that. “And you guys managed to beat her?” The DIDA agent asked, a bit skeptical of the claim.  
  
Colette frowned, turning her head towards Blakki. “Well, _we_ didn’t do much – Shouri and Blakki spent a majority of the fight going back and forth with her. We just kinda got in the way.”  
  
Rebecca folded her arms across her chest, grunting bitterly. “Let me see if I can help you all get these two functioning.” Cheryth offered. Sonia and Colette looked to each other and nodded. The three women placed hands on Blakki and focused their rhythm on the resonator. “Okay, wow, she is dry.” Cheryth groaned a bit, noting the lack of color returning to the resonator. It took the three girls draining themselves to about half of their hair turning white to bring Blakki to the same level.  
  
The lunar resonator sat up, holding her head. “Grazie a tutti.” She groaned, shaking her head slowly. “You okay Blakki?” Rebecca asked.  
  
“Still exhausted, head hurts.” She rubbed her temples. “Just get me to Sho. Where is he?” The girl demanded.  
  
“This way, he should be about twenty rooms down.” Cheryth motioned for the group to follow. Blakki attempted to walk, but her arm was held back by the machinery she was hooked up to. The girl narrowed her eyes at the connection between her and the machine. After a moment of deliberation, she yanked the cabling from her arm. Naturally the sudden absence of a pulse caused all of the machinery that was carefully monitoring the lunar resonator’s heart to go haywire.  
  
This would have the side effect of drawing the nurses to the room, who were surprised to see the previously comatose Blakki walking around. “I’m fine, I’m fine, just let me get to Sho.” She grumbled quietly amongst the many protests of the nurses tasked with her care. They kept trying to grab her, but she was doing a fine job gently smacking their hands away as they approached.  
  
“You need to get back in bed, you came here totally unconscious and with a pulse borderline on death!” The head nurse insisted, not appreciating Blakki’s combative attitude.  
  
An attitude which was rapidly reaching a fever pitch. “ENOUGH!” Blakki boomed. The nurses were pushed back by an unseen force. The vixen bared her fangs as she glared down the protesting nurse, her eyes glowing a vivid blue. “If you insist on getting in my way I’ll-”  
  
 _“Stop before you hurt yourself. Just say-“  
  
_ “I’m just worried about my boyfriend, let me see him and I’ll lay back down.” Blakki spoke the words whispered into her head. The nurses relented and allowed the group to pass. “Okay gang, this way.” Cheryth waved the group to follow her.  
  
“I thought she was gonna fight them.” Colette muttered to Rebecca. “She _was_.” Rebecca replied. “What? Really?”  
  
The fire resonator nodded; as they walked down the hallway she elaborated further: “Totally, I could feel it. But she suddenly stopped. It was super weird.” She frowned, folding her arms across her chest  
  
The group reached the room where Shouri was being kept. “Oh hey.” He waved to the group. Said group was collectively flabbergasted. The boy, who had been brought into the hospital in a similar state as his girlfriend was sitting up in bed, his brown hair half white, similar to Blakki’s.  
  
Colette immediately noticed the discrepancy and spoke up: “Wait – how? You were drained just as much as Blakki was.”  
  
The boy shrugged. “I dunno. Probably had something to do with why it took three of you to get Blakki to half rhythm.” He suggested.  
  
And suddenly the trio of maestros were confused. “We never told you that though.” Sonia pointed out.  
  
He blinked, tilting his head slight. “You didn’t have to?” He spoke with a raised eyebrow.  
  
“Can you please just explain what’s going on? My head is starting to split from this conversation.” Rebecca complained.  
  
Shouri looked to Blakki. “It’ll probably be easier for us to get out of here. If we do it _that_ way.” He said suddenly. She nodded. “Yeah. I really want to do it again if we can.” The lunar resonator added.  
  
“What the FUCK are you two going on about?!” Rebecca demanded.  
  
“If you give me my tuner, we can show you.”  
  
Cheryth, having remained quiet for this exchange, finally decided to contribute. She reached into her suit jacket and produced Shouri and Blakki’s black tuner. She walked up to the bed and held out the tuner. “Here.” She said quietly.  
  
“Thanks… whoever you are.” Accepting the device, Shouri took a moment to verify the device was his. After being satisfied with the screens he was seeing, he took in a deep breath. “Ready, amore mio?” He asked his resonator, holding out the tuner. Blakki giggled, clasping her hand over the device being presented to her. “Si!”  
  
Cheryth was confused as to what was happening. “What are they-?” she would be cut off by a declaration.  
  
“Tempo Accendere!”  
  
Bright brilliant light filled the room which would fade as quickly as it had appeared.  
  
“Shouri et Blakki-” Just as had occurred during their battle with Artemis, the two bodies were replaced with one. “-a deux!”  
  
Shouri and Blakki’s combined form now stood where Blakki had once been. “Much better.” They spoke in unison.  
  
“What the hell…?” Cheryth’s jaw hung at what had just transpired.  
  
“Wait, wait, wait, you can just do this recreationally?” Colette pointed out. “Sure, why not?” The fused pair laughed. “B-b-b-but this is the great miracle! A power that was used to save the ancient world from a great evil. A power so awe inspiring just the words spoken by the hero who used it irrevocably changed our language in honor of their sacrifice!” The scholar barked at the lunar-duo.  
  
“Eh. That’s not my problem.” They shrugged. Looking down, they frowned at their robes. “Though we might attract some attention if we walk out like this.” They held up a hand and snapped their fingers. The beads around their neck separated and flew over to a nearby closet. Opening the door, the beads retrieved Shouri’s clothes from their resting place. “Gonna change, brb.”  
  
“I can’t believe this; someone come get me when they stop abusing their literal god-killing power.” Colette exited the room with a huff.  
  
“That’s certainly something I never could have imagined happening.” Cheryth laughed nervously.  
  
\---  
  
Shouri and Blakki stared at themselves in the mirror. “So this is how we look huh?” They breathed out. It was honestly unreal to even them that they could exist in this state. What was even more confusing was just how… normal they felt right now. Even sharing a body, they felt surprisingly stable. They didn’t feel like they were god killers. They just felt like themselves, occupying the exact same location within space and time.  
  
“Something does feel weird though.” Shouri’s voice took over.  
“What’s that?” Blakki asked.  
“I think we’re a girl now.” A bit of red crept onto their face.  
“Oh yeah… I think we were a guy when we were fighting before.” Blakki pointed out.  
“Well, let’s get changed.” Shouri took a deep breath and began to disrobe.  
  
Sure enough, upon removing the thick monk robes that covered their form, a decidedly feminine structure greeted them in the mirror. “This is kind of embarrassing.” Shouri muttered. “Why?” Blakki could feel the embarrassment, but tried her best to suppress it and normalize them.  
  
“It’s just not my body and it feels kinda weird now that we’re not fighting.” He admitted. “Y-yeah. You can’t even really tell its us in here.” Blakki raised their head, staring directly into their heterochromatic eyes reflected back in the mirror. Shouri had them breathe in deeply and hold it for a moment before releasing it. “It’s so real though.”  
  
“Let’s get dressed.”  
  
A finger snap brought Shouri’s clothes up. The t-shirt felt a bit baggy, but the real troubles began when they attempted to put on Shouri’s pants. “Oh… this is a problem.” Even with a belt, their fused form was simply just smaller than Shouri’s normal frame. Releasing the pants allowed gravity to take over and the clothing pooled around their feet. “Maybe my clothes will fit?” Blakki suggested. “Good idea.”  
  
Shouri had them open the door before Blakki realized what he was doing. So the rest of the group was greeted with a very confusing sight: A totally straight-faced fox-girl, holding down her shirt like she was embarrassed to being caught in the buff. “Hey, my clothes don’t fit, can one of you go get Blakki’s clothes?” Shouri asked.  
  
Rebecca spoke up after a moment: “U-uh… sure?” The fire resonator rushed out of the room.  
  
“Ah! We’ll be in here!” Shouri barked, before their body was pulled back into the bathroom.  
  
“The heck was that about?” Shouri hissed.  
“We had no bra or underwear on!”  
“Is that a big deal?”  
“YES.”  
“Being a girl is hard, what the heck?”


	73. Chapter 73

The shared body of Shouri and Blakki stared at themselves in the mirror. White t-shirt, black pants, Blakki’s sneakers. “Pants are a bit tight, especially around the tail hole.” Blakki noted. “Probably weren’t made for two tails.” Shouri chimed in. “Definitely not.”  
  
“So what do we do with all this?” Blakki asked, looking down at their haphazardly discarded robes. “Well at least we have these.” Shouri snapped their fingers, the beads emerging from the robes and scooping them up. Before they could accept the robes, they vanished into sparkles of light, leaving the beads just floating in the air.  
  
“Huh.” They spoke in unison. “Convenient.” Shouri commented. “Let’s just go. Done with being here.” Blakki mumbled, recalling the beads to hang around their neck.  
  
Finally exiting the bathroom, the fused pair stood before their friends in their “street clothes”  
  
Sonia was the first to comment: “You look like a totally different person like that.”  
  
“You can just be like that?” Rebecca asked. The fused pair frowned and tilted their head slightly. “Like, it’s not hard to stay fused?” The fire resonator clarified.  
  
“Not at all.” The pair spoke in unison. “It feels weirdly natural.” They added. Seemingly to demonstrate, they started to stretch as if they were preparing to sprint out of the room. “Though these things are pretty nifty.” Blakki extended a hand out and the beads around their neck flew off into the bathroom, retrieving Shouri’s larger clothing and depositing them into their outstretched hand (neatly folded at that).  
  
“Alright, with that out of the way, let’s get going.” Cheryth suggested.  
  
Shouri and Blakki stepped out of the room and immediately got the stink eye from the nurses. Upon closer inspection, the staff realized this was an entirely different fox girl than the one that went into Shouri’s room and left the group alone.  
  
Leaving their body on autopilot, the fused pair began to have a mental conversation:  
  
_“You okay Blakki?”  
“No.”  
“What’s wrong?”  
“I don’t like being in hospitals.”  
“Oh?”  
“I don’t like seeing people hurt.”  
  
_There was a moment of silence between them. _  
  
“Have you considered being a doctor?” _Shouri suggested. _  
“Me? A doctor? I couldn’t.”_ Blakki dismissed the idea.  
_“Wouldn’t hurt to try. You already have healing magic.”  
“I probably couldn’t use it in this world, and people wouldn’t want help from a Lunar in the other world.”  
“Like I said, it wouldn’t hurt to try. We’ll talk about this more.”  
“Hrm…”  
  
_As soon as they were freed from the hospital, the fused pair looked around. There really wasn’t much to this place at all. This town was just a small blip in the wide expanse of bush that made up the Australian outback.  
  
While the rest of their group started heading towards the car, Shouri and Blakki stood still, staring out into the desert, as if it was calling for them. “Hey guys! This way!” Rebecca shouted, noting the fused duo spaced out in the middle of the parking lot. They turned to face the group. “Sorry!” Shouri and Blakki spoke in unison.  
  
The group stood around the mini-van. They were now seven strong (counting Shouri and Blakki as one). “I told you the van was the right call Cherry.” Haruki snickered.  
  
“Look-!” The woman stopped mid-sentence realizing she knew they’d have to cart around up to eight people and yet she still wanted to pick the luxury sedan rather than the boring mini-van that they eventually went with.  
  
“We can walk, wanna stretch our legs anyways.” Shouri and Blakki chimed in.  
  
Cheryth hummed to herself as she thought this over. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if you don’t mind.”  
  
“Where are you taking us anyways?” Rebecca piped up to ask the pertinent question. “Uhhh, good question. Where were you all staying?” Cheryth inquired. “The fancy sail place near the edge of town.” Rebecca replied.  
  
The UN employee’s eyes went wide. “What? That place is so expensive. How did a bunch of college age-” She paused when her gaze met Shouri and Blakki. “Tomoshibi… That’s right.” The woman breathed out.  
  
The pair of black fox ears affixed to Shouri/Blakki’s head twitched, causing Shouri to raise an eyebrow.  
  
_“What’s up Sho?”  
“Just thought of something.”  
  
_“Who are you again? I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” Shouri/Blakki directed their attention to the mysterious older woman guiding their friends around. “Cheryth Arkwright, UN Department of Inter-Dimensional Affairs.” The woman in question replied curtly. Shouri looked the woman up and down along with the snake resonator standing by her side. Blakki caught Shouri thinking _“We could take ‘em”_ and immediately disapproved.  
  
“Okay. We’ll meet you there then.” Shouri spoke for the fusion. “However-” He snapped their fingers and the beads separated from their neck and took up residence hanging around Cheryth’s neck. “Eh?” The woman looked at her new accessory provided by the pair in à deux.  
  
“Those beads are an extension of our body. We can track them no matter how far away they are from us.” Shouri elaborated. Before anyone could ask why this was necessary, he continued “I got some questions for you and I don’t want you running off before I get my answers.” The entire time he spoke his eyes were locked on Cheryth’s. Never before in her career had Cheryth ever experienced such a powerful pressure emanating from something that was supposed to be mortal. However, despite the threat she could feel behind Shouri’s stern gaze, she was a professional and as such sought to diffuse the situation rather than escalate it.  
  
“Don’t worry about that, you’ll find Haru and I waiting with your friends. I promise you they will be safe with us.” The woman replied, maintaining her cool.  
  
“Good. Have fun.” Shouri smiled.  
  
With that tense stand-off out of the way, the rest of the group was allowed to squeeze into the vehicle and drive off, leaving Shouri and Blakki in their fused form.  
  
“I know we wanted more information about how involved this Cheryth person is, but did you have to be so threatening about it?” Blakki asked as she had them start to follow their beads.  
  
“I dunno about you dear, but I’ve had it with government hot shots yanking us around.” Shouri lowered their head and stared at their open palm. Closing it into a tight fist he smirked. “Let me enjoy being the big guy for once.”  
  
“Just don’t make us a bunch of enemies. We’re not immortal yet, and I don’t feel like attempting to die to see if we’re ethereal.” Blakki advised. “Hey hey, I’m not looking to dismantle the government or anything. I just want some fucking answers about this entire mess.” He had them stretch their arms out and rest their hands behind their head. “Just make sure you hold me back if I don’t like her answers.” He warned his partner.  
  
“I’ll do my best Sho…” Blakki laughed nervously really hoping that she could keep them under control.  
  
\---  
  
Cheryth, Shouri and Blakki still in à deux, and their friends all sat around a table in the cafeteria of the resort they were staying at. The rest of the staff and patrons had cleared out for the afternoon meaning they had the small building all to themselves until dinner service.  
  
“As I’ve already explained to your friends, I am Cheryth Arkwright, the current head of the UN Department of Inter-Dimensional Affairs, or DIDA for short. We were established in 1945 after World War II in order to hide and protect the existence of maestros and resonators from the public eye.” Cheryth began the explanation. “Besides our mission statement, we also ensure that resonators are not abused, especially in instances of crimes being committed.”  
  
Shouri raised a hand. “Question.”  
  
“Yes?” Cheryth asked.  
  
“We kind of broke international law by climbing Urulu. You gonna book us?” He asked, leaning back in the chair, seemingly non-plussed by the threat DIDA posed.  
  
The woman grimaced. “Sages make things complicated.” She replied. “So no.”  
  
“Cool. I’ll have to thank Sahji for being a literal get out of jail free card later.” Shouri chuckled. “Sho behave.” Blakki chimed in.  
  
“A-anyways-“  
“Wait, I got a real question”  
“Yes?”  
“Do you have people in the field?”  
  
Sonia perked up at that question – She knew what Shouri was getting to with this line of questioning.  
  
“We do – they’re assigned to particular areas where large amounts of resonators appear.” The DIDA head stated.  
  
“So explain to me why the FUCK nobody thought to step in and stop Ryo from literally trying to murder us?!” Shouri barked, rising to his feet.  
  
Cheryth wasn’t unnerved by this, in fact, she was confused. “Ryo? Ryo Saitou?” She asked.  
  
“The very same.”  
  
Further confusion crept on to the woman’s face. “That’s not possible. Ryo Saitou has been dead for almost twenty years now.” She stated simply.  
  
“Are you sure about that? Are you REALLY sure?” Shouri growled, leaning forward. “Cause I think I still got a bruise where the dude punched me before.”  
  
“Shouri – Ryo Saitou died in 2003 along with his wife and one of his daughters. He died in the line of duty. He was the head of DIDA before I took his place after his death.” Her gaze fell. “I… was his partner in the field at the time.” She spoke with a hushed voice.  
  
Shouri’s glare faded as Blakki’s more empathetic expressions took over. The way the woman hung her head told the entire story without another syllable passing her lips. “So, who did we fight then?” Blakki finally dared to ask.  
  
Cheryth raised her head. “I’m not sure. For the last year we’ve been getting regular reports from your home town, there wasn’t anything amiss until about that area.”  
  
“Whoever we fought either was Ryo or was convinced they were him. At least I think” Blakki frowned, unsure of their claim now.  
  
"But wait, Shouri, didn't you say that there was a bunch of weird stuff that happened during your fight with him?” Colette piped up, recalling being hounded by the male maestro after the battle, given her background as a Rhythm Studies major.  
  
“Yeah, I mean, we ended up stopping him using a healing spell.” Shouri added.  
“A healing spell?” Cheryth asked, now taking her turn to raise an eyebrow in perplexation.  
“It was a kind of a heat of the moment thing, cause Seven told me at one point that he didn’t have a soul or something so I figured I’d try just healing him hoping it’d like make him explode with life energy or something.” He explained.   
“And did he explode?”  
“No, he just kind of faded into dust. It was super weird.”  
  
“It’s not a phenomenon that I’ve ever studied in our world.” Colette chimed in. “But then again, they were able to make artificial resonators, so anything is on the table.” Rebecca added. “That is true.” Colette frowned, leaning back in her chair.  
  
“Artificial?” Cheryth furrowed her brow. “Seven mentioned something about “Project Whistler” before.” Shouri added in. He would watch the woman’s eyes light up upon hearing that. “There we go.” She whispered. Standing from the table, she started to walk towards the door Haruki in tow. “Wait, where do you think you’re going?” Shouri barked, also rising to his feet.  
  
“I need to find out who is responsible for what happened. You’ve given me a ton of information to work with – hopefully it should be easy.” The woman told Shouri, keeping her back towards him.  
  
“Tch, well I still want to know what happened. I got thrown literally across creation because of this mess.” Shouri demanded.  
  
“Of course. I have your contact details, I’ll call you.” And with that, the mysterious woman was gone, leaving Shouri/Blakki with their friends. “Now what?” Rebecca asked.  
  
The fusion of the group walked over to the door, throwing it open. “Gonna take a walk.”  
  
Before Rebecca or any of the others could offer any protest, they would watch Shouri/Blakki walk away, ultimately vanishing into the desert surrounding them.  
  
\---  
  
For miles and miles there was nothing but arid desert around them. Sparse vegetation dotted the landscape, no fauna would dare to be out at this hour as the sun beat down on the land. There was a reason Shouri and Blakki came out here. It was simple really.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Fortissimo!”  
  
BOOM!  
  
A massive explosion of lunar energy rocked the Australian outback. “Magifiamma, Legato!” Seven orbs of purple fire orbited their form. Notably, the fire was larger than when Blakki cast it in her normal body. “Loro Formato Lunare Lago, Legato!”  
  
They glared down the huge ball of ice that appeared in the air and began to plummet in their direction. A simple mental command urged the seven balls of fire into the impending comet, causing it to explode into a rain of hail that littered the red terrain that surrounded them. _  
_  
“Funghi Magici, Legato!” Several glowing, iridescent mushrooms sprouted from the sand beneath them spreading their spores into the air. Turning on their heels they allowed themselves to fall to the ground, breathing hard as they laid there, limps splayed out. They watched the clouds pass by overhead in silence.  
  
They closed their eyes, even if it was hot out, it didn’t feel like it. So for that, they remained sprawled out on the desert floor, blankly gazing into the sky.  
  
The next time their eyes opened, day had passed to night. Sitting up, the still fused pair took inventory of their surroundings. It was cold out given it was the southern hemisphere’s winter.  
  
A shiver went down their spine, but not because of the cold. “What’s this feeling?” They breathed out. Getting to their feet, they looked around. It was quiet, dark; a typical desert night. Looking around there didn’t seem to be any immediate threat. Even in their fused state, they still had the night vision perk that their unfused forms had, which allowed them to see there wasn’t another soul around. Not even the nocturnal critters one would expect to see in the Australian outback.  
  
The vulpine ears which sat proudly on their head twitched. There was a sound hitting them… from below. The ground began to shake, but before the fused duo could brace themselves, the ground broke from under them, and they were thrown into the air by a massive serpent-like scherzando. “What the hell?!” They yelped in surprise. Before they could even move, the serpent opened its mouth unleashing a stream of liquid metal which instantly engulfed the fusion.  
  
SPLAT  
  
“Urgh…” Shouri and Blakki’s fused body rose from the puddle of liquid. The silver goo dripping off of their form. “Urgh, I feel sick.” They grumbled. Before they could quip further, they rolled out of the way of the creature burrowing into the ground. “Purifica L'anima.” They spoke.  
  
However, nothing happened. “What?!” The ground burst from under them and the fused pair found themselves holding open the mouth of the giant beast. Glancing over to their left, the huge fangs the beast possessed rubbed against their shoulder. Their eyes felt heavy as despite casting a spell that should have removed the poison inflicted on them - it just didn’t work. The duo’s eyes went wide as they watched a small rock form deeper within the beast. With them struggling to not be eaten by the massive scherzando, all they could do was watch as the bullet of rock pierced them right through their shoulder. The force of the attack pushed them out of the creature’s mouth and sent them to the ground below.  
  
There was no rest for the battered, poisoned fusion though, as the scherzando once again attempted to consume them. “Funghi Magici, Legato!” They cried out while rolling just out of the way of the beast. Once more nothing happened and the scherzando burrowed away. “This is getting really bad Sho.” Blakki whimpered. "I have a thought. Let's try it.” Shouri spoke up quickly  
  
“Armalcol Fucile, Legato!” Not familiar with this spell, they simply allowed their rhythm to take over. They found their hand balled up into a fist, pointed down where the serpent scherzando was tunneling up. As soon as the ground burst open a small chunk of rock formed just in front of their folded thumb. They stood on the creature’s head as it attempted to shake them off.  
  
Flicking their thumb, the rock shot down like a bullet, straight through the creature’s head. If it could make a sound, it would have roared. It was obvious some significant damage was done as the beast began to flail, throwing Shouri/Blakki off of it. “Loro Formato Lunare Lago, Legato!” They shouted as they fell.  
  
The lunar-water spell formed into the air and arced down at the flailing scherzando, smashing it under a ball of space rock and ice. Despite the two solid hits the creature remained solid. The twin tailed fox fusion rose to their feet, breathing haggardly as they glared their adversary down. They raised their non-injured arm.  
  
“Luce Lunare, Fortissimo.”  
  



	74. Chapter 74

Shouri slowly opened his eyes. Their plane was landing back home. His body was stiff and generally sore from the two brutal fights in a row while utilizing the power of à deux. They had discovered that any damage they took while fused would be transferred to their actual bodies when they were knocked out of it. He closed his eyes, recalling waking up in the desert, separated from Blakki after their fight with the giant snake scherzando. Of course, they didn’t awaken by their own power, but by Sonia practically screeching at them for getting themselves injured once again.  
  
The heavy lids of his eyes slowly rose once more. He _was_ tired, exhausted even. Despite this, he still had to be forced into a promise to let Sonia and Colette handle the scherzando for the next little while. Sonia was especially pushy about this; practically threatening him into resting so that he and Blakki could properly recuperate. Leaning his head over, his eyes fell on his resonator in question, who was fast asleep.  
  
He remained seated, zoned out as the world passed by around him. Finally, he fully returned to the waking world when Colette shook him awake. “Hey, we’re here.” She spoke. The boy sat up properly, his muscles protesting the movement from the hours spent totally stationary. “Uhg, I feel like crap.” Blakki groaned. She slowly turned her head to her maestro. “à deux?” The lunar resonator asked with a smirk.  
  
THWACK!  
  
“Ow! Perché lo hai fatto?!” Blakki barked at Sonia who was glaring the two down through her glasses. “You will NOT use that power again!” The woman growled. “Why not?” Shouri raised an eyebrow. “You two seem to think you’re immortal when using it. You’re NOT. You’re LUCKY we’ve been there both times you literally fell apart.” She explained sternly.  
  
Shouri and Blakki exchanged a look, then turned to the seamstress. “What’s the worst that can happen?” They asked in unison.   
  
“You’ll DIE.” Sonia nearly snarled at the reckless duo.   
“I mean we haven’t yet.” Shouri replied with a small shrug.   
“YET.” She countered.   
  
“Rilassati, Sonia.” Blakki waved their angered friend off. Before Sonia could snap the vixen continued. “We’re just joking. We could use a break, right Sho?” She nudged her partner in crime.  
  
“Despite what you may think, pain is painful.” He nodded. “We’ll be good.” He added almost tauntingly.   
  
After a moment of glaring down the duo, she adjusted her glasses. “Good.”  
  
Disembarking the plane was a relatively simple affair, though there were a few times where Shouri and Blakki took a tumble due to how exhausted they were.   
  
“Okay seriously guys. You have gotta stop doing this to my brother.” Aura chided the group upon seeing the state that Shouri and Blakki were in.   
  
“Hey! Hey! They did this to THEMSELVES!” Sonia barked, attempting to defend her honor.  
“Yes, but you didn’t stop them.” Aura chuckled.  
“LIKE THEY’D FUCKIN’ LET ME!”  
  
Laughter ensued.  
  
\---  
  
Aura adjusted the rearview mirror to look at her exhausted brother and his girlfriend. They had just dropped off Sonia, Colette and their resonators at Renoir’s Apparel and were on the way back home. “So you want to tell me what happened?” She asked, carrying a tone of authority in her voice. Shouri slowly opened his eyes and spoke.  
  
“Well, we got to climb Uluru.”   
“What?”  
“Ayer’s Rock.”  
“Still not following.”  
“It’s a sacred rock formation in Australia.”  
“Okay.”  
  
Shouri shook his head at his sister’s ignorance of non-American landmarks, but decided to press on. “Anyways, we got arrested.”  
  
SCHREEECH!  
  
Poor Blakki was jolted out of her half-conscious stupor by Aura’s sudden slamming of the brakes. “You WHAT?!”  
  
“It was bound to happen eventually!” Shouri protested. “What the FUCK kind of thinking is that?!” Aura growled at her brother  
  
“Okay, okay, look: technically Blakki and I didn’t get arrested; Colette, Rebecca, and Sonia did!”  
“How?!”  
“Well Blakki and I were in the intensive care unit.”  
“WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!”  
  
“You asked for the facts and I gave them to you.” Shouri replied with a chuckle. Aura waited for a moment before resuming their trek. She adjusted the rear-view mirror to look at Blakki. “He’s telling the truth.” The resonator spoke up before Aura could ask her question. “Though he did omit some stuff.”  
  
“Oh?” Aura raised an eyebrow.   
  
“Uh, we may have fought an immortal god-like figure – and won.”  
“Next you’re gonna tell me the power of love and friendship saved the day.”  
  
Shouri and Blakki looked at each other for a moment before speaking up. “I mean technically you’re not wrong.” They spoke in unison.   
  
“I don’t like the way you two said that.”  
  
“So we MIGHT have the ability to fuse together into like a super form type thing.” Shouri started.  
“It also might have been some kind of great miracle that stopped some evil from my world.” Blakki chimed in.  
“And the last time it was done was like 2000 years ago and nobody knew how to do it until now.” Shouri finished their explanation.  
  
Aura remained silent for the next couple of minutes as they pulled into the apartment complex. “Have you two considered writing a book or something? I think the shit you come up with would sell well with the anime crowd.”  
  
“We’re serious!” They shouted.   
  
“Prove it.” The sister countered, turning back in her seat to face the two.  
  
“Well the thing is…” Shouri and Blakki looked at each other nervously. “Once we do it, we haven’t figured out how to undo it besides nearly dying.” They admitted. “And we JUST promised Sonia we wouldn’t do anything stupid for a little bit, so I’d like to keep that promise at least for now.” Blakki added.   
  
“Uh-huh. Well, that’s definitely far more believable than your super mode nonsense.” Aura huffed, departing the vehicle.   
  
“That makes me almost want to go à deux right now just so we can throw her into the lake.” Shouri grumbled.   
  
“Andrà bene, Sho.” Blakki chuckled, patting her boyfriend’s back.  
  
\---  
  
The next day the group met up at Sahji’s.   
  
Shouri and Blakki would arrive last, with the other occupants of the shop all turning to face them. Joining the ranks of the shop was a small winged boy with blue and yellow wings. “You must be the Flash Melodica then?” Shouri immediately pointed at the new face in the shop.   
  
“Yes, you’re quite quick on the uptake.” The boy chuckled. “These things have a pattern.” Shouri grumbled to himself, leading his partner to a seat at one of the tables. “How are you all doing?” He asked the others.  
  
“We’re good.” Colette spoke up first.  
“Nothing too crazy last night.” Sonia added.  
“Kinda fuckin’ boring if ya ask me.” Rebecca grumbled.  
“After the past few weeks I’ll take boring, thanks.” Vinci quipped.  
  
Before Shouri could comment on their dealings the night prior, Sahji instantly appeared on the table that they were sitting at. “Ohoho… Aren’t you two our guests of honor today.” The sage sang as he stared into Shouri’s eyes.   
  
“Yeah?” Shouri raised an eyebrow, suspicious of the sage’s attitude. “Quite! It’s not every day a celebrity walks into my humble shop like this.” Sahji teased.   
  
It took less than a second for Shouri to realize what the ethereal was getting at. “I thought you couldn’t see what happens outside this shop.” The maestro pointed out.   
  
Sahji chuckled to himself and clicked his teeth in pity. “Well of course not, but you, Blakki, and your friends know and we sages are only privy to information known to the human order. Which last I checked; you lot are a part of.” He glanced over at Blaze, who stood at attention, as if to say she wasn’t getting involved with this. “That is to say, enough people knew about your little stunt on Uluru for me to learn that you two are quite the special pair.” He continued his teasing.   
  
The word game that was being played here was getting on Shouri’s nerves, so he cut to the chase: “Okay, you know we can à deux, what of it?” The male narrowed his eyes at the smiling sage.  
  
The smile slowly faded from the sage’s lips. “I just need to warn you to be very careful with who you let know of this power.” He spoke solemnly, which put both Shouri and Blakki on edge. “Why’s that?” The duo asked in unison.   
  
“I believe the old adage goes: to use is to know. Rhythm is a very dangerous fruit. Should you find yourself back in the other world, there will be many people who could unlock that power of yours.” Sahji explained.   
  
“And? We already figured out the government over there is actively trying to weaken and control them. What’s the harm in tipping the scales a bit?” Shouri countered.   
  
“Shouri Tomoshibi, think about why you and Blakki specifically unlocked à deux. I’ll give you a hint: it exists in your list of spells.” The boy stood up from the table and hopped off. Shouri looked to Blakki who was just as confused as he was. What did Sahji mean by that? There was something special in their spell list that other people didn’t have?  
  
This would bother them for the rest of their visit to Sahji’s right up until they arrived at Sonia’s place a bit later in the day.  
  
SNAP SNAP SNAP!  
  
“Eh?!” Shouri and Blakki looked around. Rebecca had been snapping her fingers in the pair’s face. “You two alive in there?” The fire resonator asked.  
  
“Uh, yeah.” They spoke quietly. “Just thinking about what Sahji said to us earlier.” They admitted.  
Sonia and Colette looked at each other, nodding before Colette spoke: “Well, we have something we want to show you that might help.”  
  
The two girls held out their tuners for Shouri and Blakki, specifically it was their spell lists. The lunar duo’s eyes went wide at the highlighted spell on both of their tuners.  
  
 _“Tempo Accendere”_  
  
“Wait wait-” Shouri and Blakki looked to one another before turning back to the pair of maestros. “-you two can-?”  
  
“No, we haven’t tried it yet.” Sonia told them, pocketing her own tuner. “Colette and I discovered them in our spell lists last night.” The seamstress continued. “But all of us had a pretty long conversation about what we know about you two and à deux, and we concluded that we probably can’t do it.” Colette added in. Rebecca seemed to look away bitterly – something that went unnoticed by the rest of the group.  
  
“It’s kinda like Sahji was saying: Just because we know that you did it, it showed up in our spell lists.” Sonia concluded.   
  
Shouri hummed in thought before offering his own input on the situation.   
  
While the trio of maestros discussed the intricacies of rhythm, Rebecca waved Blakki over. “So, what is it like?” The fire resonator cut straight to the chase. “What? à deux?” The lunar resonator raised an eyebrow.   
  
“Yeah!” Rebecca nodded quickly. Her expression dimmed slightly. “It looks fun.” She admitted.   
  
Blakki frowned, thinking about the new power her and her maestro had access to. “It’s weird. It’s like I’m still me, but I’m also not? Like Sho and me are just moving our body like a really easy to control puppet if that makes sense.” Seeing the confused look on Rebecca’s face, Blakki continued to try and clarify. “Like, it doesn’t feel awkward or strange, it just feels _right_.” She furrowed her brow, hoping it made sense.  
  
“So you’re way stronger?” Rebecca questioned.  
“Loads.” Blakki confirmed.   
“How do you end it though?” Vinci inquired.  
  
Blakki looked away. “Uhhh. We haven’t exactly figured that out yet.” She admitted sheepishly.  
  
“Ah.” Rebecca and Vinci nodded.   
  
\---  
  
That night  
  
“Lanciafiamme, Forte!” With that command Rebecca eliminated the last scherzando that stood in their path. They had ended up in the woods bordering the town, so they could afford to be a bit more flashy than usual. “Whew.” Colette wiped some sweat from her brow. Rebecca was unusually quiet, her head lowered.   
  
Even the normally oblivious Colette took note of this. “Rebecca?” She asked. The vixen’s ears twitched as she looked around, slightly startled from being called upon.   
  
“Are you okay?” Colette questioned; brows turned up in concern.   
“I’m fine. Are we done?” Rebecca replied quickly.  
The maestro frowned hard, she didn’t like that answer, but decided not to press the issue. “I was gonna ask you that.”   
  
“Hrm.” Rebecca looked around. “I guess I don’t feel anything else.” She mumbled. Before Colette could ask for her resonator to repeat herself, her tuner began buzzing. “Huh? A call?” She answered the incoming call.   
  
“Colette! You have to get over here! Vinci and I ran into one of those huge Scherzando!” Sonia cried out from the other line before the line went silent and the call ended. Rebecca and Colette looked to each other. “Where is she?!” Rebecca shouted.  
  
“I’m looking!” Colette quickly navigated to the tracker in her tuner. Her eyes darted back and forth as she studied the map. “They’re not too far away let’s go!”  
  
The pair ran through the woods in silence, in anticipation of what was to come. Coming up to a clearing they heard the distinct sounds of battle. Rebecca’s eyes widened as she caught sight of a large earth-covered deer shooting a ball of magma from its rocky maw. “Earth Fire Ossia…” The fire resonator breathed out.   
  
“Rebecca!”   
  
It was however too late, as the fire resonator’s feet became trapped in the earth. “Nngh! What?! I can’t-!?” Despite her protests she couldn’t escape the hole that was rapidly forming. She tried igniting her feet, but found it just plain didn’t work. “Rebecca!” Colette jumped into the expanding hole after her partner. “You idiot! Why did you jump in here?!” Rebecca shouted, grabbing her maestro.  
  
“I panicked! I didn’t know what to do!” Colette yelped, tearing up.  
  
Rebecca stared, her face reddening slightly. “C’mere Princess.” She grabbed Colette and pulled her close. By this point they were waist deep in the sink hole. “Rebecca…” Colette couldn’t help but blush herself. “We could try it.” Rebecca muttered.  
  
“Try what?”  
“à deux. We know how Shouri and Blakki do it.”   
“What? No!”  
  
A loud stomp reminded the duo that they were in fact being attacked by a giant deer.   
  
“We don’t have a choice!” Rebecca shouted. “Do you want to die like this?! I don’t!” The resonator barked at her maestro.  
  
“N-no! I just-”  
“Then let’s do it!”  
  
STOMP  
  
The deer scherzando drew closer.  
  
“F-fine, we’ll try it.” Colette relented. She held out the tuner for Rebecca, who eagerly clasped her hand around the device.   
  
Digging its hooves into the ground, the massive scherzando formed a huge boulder which it fired at the fire pair. With no more time before their imminent demise, a pair of disjointed voices filled the quiet night air.  
  
“T-tempo Accendere…”  
“Tempo Accendere!”  
  
Meanwhile Sonia and Vinci had taken cover behind some fallen trees to catch their breath. “What was that?!” Sonia shouted as a bright light filled the area.  
  
“I think that was Colette and Rebecca.” Vinci replied uneasily. He didn’t like what he had heard. The pair slowly peeked over the tops of the logs to see a new singular form standing on top of a boulder where their friends once were.  
  
What appeared to be a female knight stood at the ready in front of the large beast. Her clothes resembled that of a crusader, except rather than bearing any religious symbolism, there was an emblem of fire adorning their chest. The mysterious figure stood at the ready, a red blade in hand. Sonia and Vinci stared. Based on the hair and the twin fox tails, it was obvious that this person was Rebecca and Colette.  
  
…but something felt _wrong_.  
  
Wordlessly, the knight raised her blade, leveling it towards her enemy. Wings of fire ignited on her back. She flew at their adversary, pulling the sword back as they flew before vanishing into a burst of fire. They appeared on the other side of the beast. There was a noticeable lag in their reappearance and the cut forming on the scherzando. But once their slice took form the scherzando which had given them such trouble vanished in an instant.  
  
Vinci grabbed his maestro’s hand. “Nini, we need to GO.” The boy hissed. “Wha-? Why? That’s Colette and Rebecca.” Sonia was confused as she was pulled away by her resonator.   
  
WHAM!  
  
The knight landed in front of them, stopping the pair in place. Their glowing orange eyes lacked any kind of visible emotion. It was like staring down an automaton of some kind - a living body with no soul. Their sword was pointed directly at Sonia and Vinci. “Nini!” Vinci shouted, pushing his maestro back.  
  
“Idrante, Fortissimo!”  
  
Before Vinci could even move to cast the spell commanded of him the sword was being swung in his direction. “VINCI!”  
  
The edge of the weapon dug into the boy. He stared down at it, eyes wide. Time slowed as the fire knight completed their swing, throwing Vinci’s body into Sonia.  
  
“Hey!”  
  
The knight turned to the source of the voice. Shouri and Blakki – Shouri glaring down the sword wielder, holding Blakki’s hand, who was kneeling next to him, head lowered, eyes closed.   
  
Vinci looked down at where the sword had struck him. There was no damage - Blakki had cast the healing ultimate spell on him just at the nick of time.   
  
“Why don’t you take out your frustration on us?” Shouri asked, keeping his eyes solely on the blade leveled in his direction. Without another word, the knight charged the healing duo.   
  
“Tempo-”  
  
The bright light didn’t halt the fire knight’s advance as they thrust their sword directly into the expanding brilliance.   
  
“-Accendere!”   
  
When the light faded away, Shouri and Blakki held the blade firmly. “Shouri et Blakki - à deux!” They declared. Sonia and Vinci stared in awe, the lunar pair held the blade in place, using their rosary beads to protect their hands. “Hey! Who the fuck is this?!” Shouri barked.  
  
“It’s Rebecca and Colette!” Vinci shouted back.  
  
Shouri and Blakki’s expression morphed into one of guilt almost instantly. They wouldn’t have time to dwell on that, as the red sword began to glow, as they let go, the weapon changed shape into a much longer great sword.   
  
“SHOURI!” Sonia screamed. The black clad fusion slowly traced the blade that was currently penetrating their collarbone. “F-fuck-!” They gasped. In an instant the fire knight was ejected from their immediate vicinity by a massive telekinetic blast. “La Bella Vita, Lento!” They choked out, blood dribbling down their lips as they spoke. Their sword wielding adversary charged once more, speeding up as their heavy great sword morphed into a lithe rapier. “La Bella Vita-” They jumped over the blade being thrust in their direction. “-Lento!” They finished the spell they started casting, fully healing off the damage they had taken.   
  
“Sho what do we do?!” Blakki asked as she had them jump backwards away from the overzealous knight.  
“Kick their ass obviously.” Shouri replied.  
“Well yeah but-”  
“We gotta avoid taking too much damage so we can heal them when we force them apart.” He clarified.  
“Easier said than done.”   
“That’s for sure.”  
  
As the fused fire knight continued charging them, their blade turned back into it’s initial short sword form. Shouri and Blakki pulled their hand back, their rosary forming into a long string. They thrust it forward like a whip, the beads wrapping around the blade. The sword morphed back into a rapier, allowing it to slip out from the beads.  
  
“God damn it!”  
  
SHWICK  
  
For the second time this battle, the sword penetrated Shouri and Blakki’s form. This time however, they used the closeness of their enemy to their advantage. “Armalcol Fucile, Legato!” The lunar-earth bullet pierced the knight, giving them a taste of their own medicine and forcing them back.   
  
“This one isn’t as bad, but still fucking hurts.” Shouri noted through clenched teeth.  
“La Bella Vita, Lento!” Blakki had them heal off the damage regardless.   
  
The knight glared them down, red slowly joining the orange of their tabard. She remained iron focused on her target. “They’re as strong as Artemis. Fuck.” Shouri cursed under their breath. “I have an idea Sho.” Blakki muttered. “Let’s do it then.”   
  
The fire knight charged again. “Funghi Magici, Legato!” Shouri/Blakki jumped backwards, leaving a small circle of glowing black and green mushrooms in their wake. The knight of course ran straight into them, releasing the spores, but rather than being weakened by them, a pair of fiery wings erupted from their back. With a beat of their fire based appendages, a blaze of wind burned away the mushrooms and their spores instantly.  
  
“-Legato!”  
  
The knight looked up just in time to see a ball of ice plummeting to the earth with them being the target. They raised their sword, having it transform into its large great sword form. They pulled the blade back, flames erupting from the edges of the weapon, ready to crush the incoming meteor.   
  
“Mente Offuscata, Fortissimo!”   
  
At this critical juncture, the knight was assaulted by a wave of mental energy that broke their concentration. It was such a brief distraction in the grand scheme of things; however, it did the trick. Even though they were able to swing their sword into the ice ball, they lost a lot of the power they were previously preparing.  
  
BOOM!  
  
A massive explosion rocked the forest as ice and rock fragments escaped ground zero of the impact site. A pair of orange eyes glowed from within the smoke and dust kicked up by the attack. They slowly raised their sword. Despite being so battered and injured, they intended to continue the fight however their stance wavered ever so slightly.   
  
Tap tap tap tap tap tap  
  
Their ears twitched as they heard something rapidly approaching.  
  
“Luce Lunare-”  
  
The orange eyes in question widened as a yellow and blue glow honed in on them. “-FORTISSIMO!  
  
THWACK!  
  
Sonia and Vinci ran up just in time to see a body fly out of the column of dust and debris. The body in question glowed while it flew in the air, and split into two. Rebecca and Colette slammed into the ground, their tuner clattering to the ground and rolling a distance away.   
  
The remaining smoke cleared, revealing the blazing blue and yellow glow of Shouri and Blakki’s eyes; remaining in à deux, hand outstretched from the lunar empowered palm strike they had just delivered. Their half white hair whipped in the wind as they remained in this position for some time, regaining their spent breath.


	75. Chapter 75

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **IMPORTANT NOTE FOR RETURNING READERS: As of 2/8/2021 I have re-done the first arc of this story (Chapters 1-26)**
> 
> The changes include:  
> -General tightening up of the prose  
> -Shifting certain scenes around for a more enjoyable reading experience  
> -Additional scenes to flesh out the early narrative
> 
> Nothing has been ret-conned about the early story in a way that will make the later chapters incomprehensible, however I believe the additions are most certainly worth a skim!
> 
> If you have any questions, comments, concerns or feedback, you can reach out to me on twitter @BlueTomoshibi

Fire, blazingly hot flames that incinerated all.

For as long as she had been alive Rebecca was unable to be burned. It was the Renard clan’s pride and joy. Their bright, inextinguishable fire. The blaze of their souls that allowed them to shine more brilliantly than any other clan.

It was who she was, it was why she was born.

It was why she was sold…

Yet here she was, running from these flames. Why? It hurt. It was a sensation she had never experienced before. The more she thought about it the more confused she got. What could possibly burn her? There wasn’t a thing on either earth that was up to the task.

“.....ca…”  
“R…cca…”  
“Rebecca!!”

As she regained consciousness, she took a sharp breath and sat up with a start, Vinci moving out of the way just in time. “What?! Where?!” Rebecca yelped, looking around in shock. She gave herself a once over. Last she could recall was they were fighting that giant deer scherzando, but she was perfectly fine; no injuries at all when they were in a losing position before.

“Fuck..!”

She jerked her head up at the source of the disgruntled voice. Shouri and Blakki sat on their knees, in à deux, hands out with a warm glow emitting from them. Tracing their hands down to the target of the healing spell they were casting Rebecca saw-

“Colette!” The fire resonator gasped. Her precious maestro laid there unmoving, hair totally white, clothes torn up, covered in blood. “Wh-what happ-?” Before she could finish that thought, Rebecca remembered what they had attempted to do.

“You kinda went berserk.” Vinci quietly spoke up.

“I did?” Rebecca asked, furrowing her brows - she couldn't recall anything after grabbing Colette’s hand. “I’m gonna run her to the hospital. My healing isn’t working as well as it should.” The fire resonator snapped her head up. Shouri/Blakki was holding the still unconscious Colette in their arms. “W-wait, why can’t you just use the healing ultimate?” She questioned.

The fused pair frowned. “I dunno, we tried casting it, but it just doesn’t work. Really not sure why.” Their tone was bitter, a perceived failure on their part. “Anyways, meet us at the hospital.” With that, they ran off at an incredible speed. Sonia and Vinci remained quiet, unsure of what exactly they could even say to Rebecca at this point.

The fire resonator pushed herself up to her feet. She glanced around, noting the sheer destruction around her. Laying in the grass a small distance away from where she awoke was a red tuner. Shakily, she stepped over to where it was at and picked it up. The body was slightly charred and the screen was cracked. Pressing the buttons yielded no results, it was entirely dead. Tears started streaming down the girl’s face. “What have I done?” She squeaked. Her legs gave out and she fell to her knees. Sonia and Vinci looked to each other before walking over to fox-girl. “Come on, let’s go.”

“No, just leave me here.”

Sonia and Vinci exchanged a glance, before Sonia stepped forward. “Rebecca what’s wrong?” She asked. The fire resonator kept her head lowered. “I did that to her. She didn’t want to do it but I forced her to.”

Sonia knelt down next to the fire-fox. “You couldn’t have known what was going to happen.”  
“I HURT her. She would have never wanted to try it on her own!” Rebecca retorted.  
“Yeah, but we don’t know what that scherzando would have done to you two if you hadn’t tried that.”  
“We would have been fine probably!”  
“How are you so sure? Vinci and I were pinned down and you two were stuck in a sinkhole.”  
“Shouri and Blakki were already on the way!”  
“They can’t bring people back from the dead!”

Rebecca clicked her teeth and turned away from Sonia. “We don’t even know if Colette is okay.” The resonator muttered. “We don’t know that she’s not okay though.” Sonia countered, trying her best to maintain her cool, but was rapidly losing it.

It seemed that both emotionally strong rhythm users were at their breaking point, as the fire resonator of the pair snapped her head back in the maestro’s direction. Tears streamed down her face. “What if I KILLED her Sonia?! I LOVE her! I want to be with her forever! What if she’s dead?! Huh?! What then?!”

SMACK

Vinci eyes widened in shock; Sonia had slapped Rebecca, hard – so much so that Sonia was holding her wrist from how hard she had whipped her hand across the fire resonator’s face. “Listen you: Colette’s not dead. I’ve known Shouri for a while now - he will not let her die.” Rebecca continued to glare through the tears, holding her sore cheek. Sonia continued. “You’re coming at me like I have no idea what it’s like to lose someone. Newsflash: My parents are DEAD.” She growled. “You want to know the last thing I said to my mom?”

Vinci kept his gaze on his maestro as this wasn’t something Sonia shared with him in all their time together.

“I told her I hated her and I would never take over the family business.” She spoke, tears now streaming down her own face. “I never even got to say I was sorry. Just like that she was gone.” The maestro rose to her feet, taking her glasses off for a moment to wipe her face dry. “I know perfectly well what losing someone you love means. So get your ass up, and follow me to the hospital or I’ll have Vinci knock you out and drag you there myself.”

Rebecca would quietly rise to her feet and offer no further protest.

\---

The trip to the hospital was quiet, Rebecca's eyes were complete focused on her destroyed tuner. Her thoughts swirled about as the maelstrom of her mind raged on.

Who did she even think she was trying to tame that power? She wasn't as strong as Blakki, that was certain. Not even close. She didn't even have that strong of a bond with Colette. Sure, they had become closer as friends but-

“That’s just weird…”

“Dating your resonator, it’s just-”

Rebecca felt like an idiot. Of course Colette would never want to date her. She wanted to be with Colette so badly it hurt. It hurt so much. She raised her head, gazing wearily at Vinci. Why couldn't she be like them? The resonators of this world. They didn't remember anything about her world. They didn't have to be burdened with the boundaries and expectations of their home world. They were treated like true equals. They could love and be loved without anyone thinking it was wrong.

They were treated like family rather than a commodity.

whirrrr

The sound of the automatic door sliding open pulled Rebecca out of her thoughts. The cold sterile air of the hospital washed over her. Despite being a fire element, she still felt the chill and trembled slightly as it blew past her. Regardless, she followed Sonia and Vinci.

Sonia took the initiative and addressed the front desk: “We're looking for someone who was just brought in her name is-”  
The front desk attendant cut Sonia off however: “Colette Severine right?”

The trio exchanged perplexed looks before turning back to the seemingly psychic worker. “Y-yes, how did you know?” Sonia asked.

The attendant looked the trio over, specifically Rebecca and Vinci. “These things have a pattern.” They commented. “This is patient entry, Ms. Severine is in the ER.” They pointed to one of the doors. Before the misplaced group could ask where that was the attendant was already one step ahead of them: “Take that down to the first left, then follow that hallway all the way down past the imaging department and take a right. From there it's pretty obvious where to go.” They explained.

Sonia nodded; the directions seemed simple enough. “Thank you.” She remembered her courtesy. With that the trio began their trek through the hospital. It was quiet and cold - normal of a hospital at night. Rebecca held herself, shivering. Every so often she'd glance down at the broken tuner in her hand. “Hey, you alright?” Sonia asked, glancing back at the vixen.

“Cold."”

Coming to a sudden stop, Sonia looked Rebecca over. The maestro stepped closer and grabbed a lock of Rebecca's hair. “Tell me, those natural resonator defenses of yours, they're rhythm based, right?”

The two women stared at each other for a moment before Rebecca nodded. Without warning, Sonia placed a hand over Rebecca's heart, causing the fox to blush a bit. She'd realize what the maestro was up to when she saw the sparks of red from Sonia's hand. “We're not a duet, but at least it's something.” Sonia spoke quietly.

Truth be told, Rebecca kind of needed that right now. Without realizing it, her own internal fire had dimmed significantly and was only getting weaker. Resonators really did rely totally on their maestros. In her entire thirteen years with Colette, she had never been truly cut off from her link until now. Even on Mt. Shasta when Colette climbed to the summit alone and without the tuner that linked them, there was still a weak thread connecting them.

But right now, she felt cold. Very cold. The absence of her precious maestro's rhythm was now abundantly obvious.

And that scared her.

“L-Let's keep moving.” Rebecca took the lead, with Sonia and Vinci following her now. “Th-thank you.” The fire resonator muttered, remembering her own courtesy. “That's what friends do Rebecca, no biggie.” Rebecca would feel a reassuring hand on her back and more rhythm provided to her. The grip around her cracked red tuner tightened.

\---

Rebecca shuddered as she walked through the ER. Emotions were so powerful in a place of pain such as this. It was hitting her quite hard in her own weakened state. A warmth invaded her hand. She looked down to see Sonia's hand interlinked with her own. “It's strong here, stay with us Rebecca.” Sonia spoke gently.

They found their way to where Colette was being kept. Shouri/Blakki sat nearby. “Hey.” They spoke quietly, keeping their downcast gaze solely on the unconscious maestro laying before them. Rebecca focused on her maestro - she had been cleaned up, her clothes replaced with a hospital gown, IV attached to her arm. Shouri and Blakki got up from the chair they had been occupying to allow the fire resonator to sit next to her maestro.

Meanwhile, Sonia had located Colette's clothes folded neatly in a bin nearby. The seamstress picked up the stained, torn garments, staring at them for a moment in silence. “I'll be back in the morning.” She announced.

Rebecca as well as Shouri/Blakki turned their attention the other maestro. “Colette's gonna need fresh clothes when she wakes up and gets out of here, right?” The woman smiled. Rebecca couldn't help but smile back. “Yeah. You're right.”

Before she left however, Sonia motioned with her head for Shouri/Blakki to follow her. “We'll be back Rebecca.” The fused pair told the resonator.

“I'll be here with her.” Rebecca told them.

Shouri/Blakki followed Sonia and Vinci out of the hospital in complete silence. The trio came to a stop. Sonia stood with her back to the pair for a moment before turning on her heel to face the fused pair.

“What's eating you up?” She probed.  
“What do you mean?” They asked back.  
“Strong emotion, remember? You two are like a billboard of guilt right now.” The maestro told them.

They averted their gaze. “I… We did that to them.” They spoke after a moment.

“How so? Just because you can use the power doesn't mean you have to babysit us all. We’re all adults and we can all make mistakes. It happens.” Sonia retorted.

“No, we didn't properly warn you all.” They glared at Sonia, who remained unaccepting of their attempts to take blame.

“Of what pray tell?” She questioned.  
“We used à deux before.” They admitted  
“Oh? When was-” Sonia stopped mid-sentence, coming to a realization. “That dragon girl and her maestro.”

Shouri/Blakki nodded to confirm this.

“Wait a second. I know they were strong, but they weren't Artemis strong.” Vinci chimed in.

“Well, one thing led to another, and we somehow fused.” They lowered their gaze, looking over their proud monk robes that adorned their combined body. “But it was nothing like this. There was some kind of thing that possessed our body and ended them.” They explained. “It took everything in our power to stop it from straight up killing those two.”

Sonia and Vinci remained quiet, both taking in what the lunar fusion was saying. “Ended is such a vague word; What happened to them?” Vinci asked after a moment.

“The thing that possessed us said they erased their memories and returned them home.” Shouri spoke. “At least that's what they claimed.” Blakki added.

A cold wind blew over the group as the clouds covered the little moonlight that was beaming down on them previously. “Sahji said before there was something special in your spell list that made à deux possible for you two.” Sonia recalled aloud. “Any ideas?” She inquired.

“I dunno.” They shrugged. “I thought it was just the Tempo accendere spell, but you guys have it also.” Shouri had them stroke their chin in thought. “I also don't think it's having your ultimate spell unlocked, because Colette and Rebecca have theirs.” Blakki added.

“Also you had your ultimate spell when you fought dragon girl before.” Vinci pointed out.

“Those Legato spells maybe?” Sonia suggested.  
“No. Again, Colette and Rebecca as well as the dragon girl have Ossia spells.”

This earned a frown from Sonia. “This is tricky.”

Silence

“So what are you two going to do?” Vinci said to the fusion.

They turned back to the hospital. “Keep an eye on Rebecca and Colette; last thing we need right now is for them to go “mysteriously missing”.”

Sonia could feel a sense of responsibility from those words. No matter what she or Vinci said, it seemed that Shouri and Blakki were still blaming themselves for this. It was odd to Sonia - she knew Shouri was the type to shoulder the blame for any trouble that came their way, but she didn't think Blakki was like that.

“Okay.” The woman relented. Trying to change the minds of someone so stubborn was a herculean task, and she knew she didn't have the strength to stop them.

It was honestly kinda scaring her.

Letting them do what they wanted seemed like the best course of action for the time being.

“Come on Vinci, let's go.”

As his maestro walked away, Vinci stared at the back of Shouri/Blakki. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like being them at this moment in time.

\---

Blue eyes fluttered open as one Colette Severine became cognizant of her surroundings. “Where… am I?” She slowly shook off the grogginess as her awareness returned to her. Sitting up, she properly took stock of where she awoke: it was bright, slightly cold, sterile smelling. A thin blanket covered her, and her normal attire had been replaced with a similarly thin hospital gown.

Her heart began to race as she had no idea what had happened, but she was put at ease when she saw Rebecca nearby, her head resting on the bed.

She was further calmed when she saw Shouri/Blakki's fused form similarly sleeping on the nearby couch. Despite being asleep both Rebecca and Shouri/Blakki looked simply exhausted. They must have only just fallen asleep. Colette exhaled wearily and laid back. What happened?

As she laid there it started to slowly come back to her. She tried to à deux with Rebecca and then it all went blank. Shouri and Blakki were there, albeit fused. Something must have happened, but she couldn't think of what situation could have possibly arose to put her in a hospital bed and require Shouri/Blakki to fuse again.

Her mind finally settled on they must have failed to fuse or didn't do it in time and ended up getting hurt instead. Then her eyes hit Rebecca. The fire resonator looked okay though? Why was Colette laying in a hospital bed and not Rebecca? Even with Shouri/Blakki being fused, Colette had already pieced together that they couldn’t fully heal her. She knew very well why this was, which left her wondering did they know why?

The prospect of explaining something new to her friends excited her and she patiently awaited their awakening.

Colette would quietly observe the shuffling about of the hospital staff. One nurse came to check on her and Colette motioned for them to be quiet since Rebecca and company were sleeping. Finally, after what felt like ages, Rebecca stirred.

The fire resonator sat up. “Good morning.” Colette smiled. Without a word spoken from her, Rebecca grabbed Colette and held her as tightly as possible, sobbing quietly into her maestro's shoulder. Said maestro laid there, surprised by the sudden embrace, but she would wrap her arms around her resonator after getting her bearings together.

\---

“Hey…”

Shouri/Blakki were pulled out of unconsciousness by Rebecca and Colette. “We're free to go.” The fire resonator told them. The fused pair sat up and shook their head. “How long was I out?” They asked. “Long enough.” Rebecca stood up straight.

“Fair.” Shouri brushed their hair back with their hand. “God, this body can get stiff too? Why can't it just be super invincible?” Blakki groaned as she had them stand up. The fused pair noted that Colette and Rebecca both seemed to be looking them over. “What?” Shouri/Blakki asked.

“Just curious how it's so easy for you two.” Colette and Rebecca now spoke in unison. The fire pair looked at each other. Blakki and Shouri raised a brow. Even if they lacked control of it, they had also fused. “Can you hear each other's thoughts?” Shouri spoke up.

“What? No.” Once again, they answered in unison.

"Are we the weird ones Sho?"  
"They did lose control."  
"So did we. It took everything in our power to stop that thing from killing that man."  
"Hrm."

Shouri and Blakki's mental conversation would be interrupted by Rebecca: “Hey can we get out of here? It's still kinda cold in here.”

They responded with a slow nod. “Yeah.” Blakki spoke up for them.

As they walked out, Shouri took note of something: “Did Sonia visit?” He inquired.

“Yeah, she came by and dropped off Colette's clothes.” Rebecca replied. “Must have been busy at the shop or something. Seemed like she was in a rush.” The fire resonator noted. There was something to the way she spoke - something wasn't being said.

What's more, Colette didn't have possession of their tuner, Rebecca did. It was clipped to the side of her skirt, still totally destroyed. “Can you take us to Sahji's?”

Colette had said that, but Rebecca was one the one staring at the tuner by her side.

Shouri brushed their bangs back, scratching the back of their head. “I guess. Maybe I have enough power to punch that smarmy sage in the face if he pisses me off enough.”

“Sho…”  
“What? Blaze literally called it the “god killing technique”. Let me have this.”  
“Trying to kill the embodiment of hope and wishes is probably bad for the universe, maybe even impossible.”  
“Hey! I saw that fucker sweat when I said I'd wish for his death.”  
“Sho…”  
“You never let me have any fun!”

While Shouri and Blakki argued with themselves, they would fail to notice Colette and Rebecca fall into the same annoyed expression.


End file.
